Date:09/09/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/09/09/stories/2008090954940500.htm

Kerala - Kochi

Encroachers evicted from 708 ha

Kochi: A total of 708 hectares of government land in the State has been freed from the hands of encroachers.

This was stated by the government in reply to an application seeking information on government lands filed by M.K. Haridas of Proper Channel, a non-government organisation, under the Right to Information Act.

The government said the procedure of taking over land was yet to be completed in certain districts.

To a query, the government said Rs.27,74,514 had been spent on the eviction drives in all districts. A sum of Rs.15,13,578 had been spent on the Munnar eviction drive alone. In Munnar, encroachers had been evicted from 31 hectares of government land. A total of 486 hectares had been cleared in Idukki district.

The government evicted encroachers from 48.17 hectares in Thiruvananthapuram district. The government informed the organisation that it could not say which land had been encroached on a large scale in Munnar. The government earned Rs.1.40 lakh by auctioning off the debris of the buildings torn down during an eviction drive in Kozhikode district. No amount was spent from the exchequer for the eviction drives in Alappuzha, Palakkad, Kannur, Wayanad and Kasaragod districts.