HC cracks whip,Munnar may see more evictions

The stage is getting ready for another round of evictions in Munnar where Chief Minister V S Achuthanandan had deployed his trusted bureaucrats and bulldozers to raze scores of illegally-constructed resorts in 2007.

Two-and-a-half years after that unaccomplished mission,the Kerala High Court on Wednesday came down on the government for its failure to check encroachments and illegal constructions. Acting upon a petition moved by a green outfit,‘One Earth One Life’,a Division Bench of Chief Justice S R Bannurmath and Justice Thottathil Raveendran asked the Idukki Collector to submit a report on Thursday detailing the action taken on encroachment and illegal constructions.

The court wanted to know the actions resorted to by the government to recover the revenue land since 2007. The government has to ensure that Munnar does not lose its greenery and illegal land transactions does not take place,the Divsion Bench observed.

Sources close to Achuthanandan said the Marxist veteran,who had been pulled up by his party for the eviction drive,has no clear plans to revive the mission. Opposition leader Oommen Chandy said he would visit Munnar,where the CPM and CPI had raised their party offices on encroached land. He alleged that encroachment has been going on with government support.