Settlers will not be evicted from sanctuary: Revenue minister E Chandrasekharan

MUNNAR: Revenue minister E. Chandrasekharan said settlers who had been living in the areas declared as the Neelakurinji sanctuary for years need not fear eviction. “The declaration of the sanctuary has triggered the fear in these areas that the entire place will be converted into a sanctuary. There is no need for any kind of concern for settlers who have been staying in these places for years. Those who have valid title deeds will be protected,” the minister said after a discussion he held with his two cabinet colleagues – forest minister K Raju and power minister M M Mani - and officials at Munnar on Monday.

The revenue minister, in the presence of Mr Mani and Mr Raju, reiterated that encroachers would not be spared. The three-member ministerial committee deputed by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan are on a fact-finding mission to Kottakkamboor and Vattavada villages under which falls the proposed Neelakurinji Sanctuary. "The three of us did not come here to take any decision. On the basis of the decision taken at a meeting chaired by the Chief Minister, we will collect all necessary information from these places and on the basis of this, decisions will be taken at the government level,” he said. The ministers will hold discussions with people's representatives in the area on December 12.