KOLLAM: Residents of Ayanivelik-kulangara village in Karunagappally are on a protest against public sector Indian Rare Earths (IRE) allegedly grabbing some 200 acres of land for mining without the permission of owners. They allege their plots were registered in the name of Kerala Governor as a prelude to mining rare minerals. The joint people protest council also demands the Kerala State Pollution Control Board to deny permission for mining.
The council staged a sit-in following a public hearing at Kollam collectorate on Tuesday after their demands were rejected. They allege forging documents in 2011 at the Karunaga-ppally principal sub-registrar office by the IRE to grab their land. “The real owners came to know about the fraud when they procured liability certificate for various purposes including pledging and selling,” Munambath Shihab, protest council chairman, said. “We started the council back in 2011.”
Then chief minister Oommen Chandy in reconciliation talks in December 2011 opined the registration without the knowledge of owners is a violation of the human rights and promised to cancel them in the presence of ministers and people’s representatives.
“When the government order was published, what the real owners got was the right to get loans on these properties and transactions. The protest subsided as the issues were rectified temporarily,” Mr Shihab said. They resumed protests after the IRE called for a public hearing in the presence of district collector to go on with mining. Terming the move as an organised loot, nearly 3000 residents including women and children, took out a march on May 16.
