THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The industries department has found that various plots of lands it has acquired over the years across the state to initiate development projects have fallen into disuse. Encroachments, inordinate delay in completion of projects, misuse of industrial lands and non-resumption of idling lands have been identified as the major causes for the unproductive nature of industrial lands.
At Koppam in Palakkad, for instance, at least six acres of land earmarked for industrial development has been found to be encroached by migrant families for over five years. Under Kerala Land Conservancy Act, 1957, any person who occupies government land unauthorisedly is liable to pay a fine and can be summarily evicted by the collector. Moreover, any crop or other product raised on the land will be forfeited and any building or structure erected will also be forfeited. It has been found that district collectors are generally averse to take action because of political pressure.
Delay in implementing projects has also rendered lands unproductive. The industries department, for instance, had decided to set up multi-storied industrial parks in Ernakulam, Palakkad and Thrissur districts in 2010. In Ernakulam and Thrissur districts, civil works costing nearly '17 crore were completed in August 2016, but the structures were not provided with electrical and water connections. In Palakkad, the work had not yet started.
“A bigger worry is the department’s failure to take over idling lands even after the non-use has been noticed,” a top industries department source said. “All government orders regulating the allotment of industrial land insist that the land should be used only for the purpose for which it is allotted, within the period stipulated,” he added. The land should be resumed if violations are noticed. An internal report has stated that innumerable industrial lands have been lying idle for more than 10 years. A 40-cent plot in Ernakulam, for instance, has been lying idle for 35 years since 1983.
It has also been observed that lands allotted for industrial development were misused in many cases. In February 2014, the department had decided to allot land not exceeding five per cent of total land area of development plots to service sector industries such as logistics, godown and food court. “However, the activities of the units for which the land was allotted did not support the industries operating in the development areas,” the official said. In one case, the land was allotted to a Maruti showroom.
