Munnar: Nine years after Operation Munnar which sought to bring down illegal constructions in the ecologically fragile tourist spot of Munnar floundered, the officialdom has moved in to attempt its next edition. The revenue department in Idukki district is going ahead with issuing stop memos to structures which do not have a no-objection certificate (NOC) from the department despite pressure including transfer threat to key officials.
“Village officers in the eight villages in the Munnar area have issued more than 60 notices asking owners to stop the construction as they are violative of the rules under which they had been issued the titles,” revenue department sources said. “We have been verifying the records of other constructions and take action,” the sources said.
The villages are Chinnakkanal, Santhanpara, Bison Valley and Anavilasam in Udumpanchola taluk and Kanan Devan Hills, Pallivasal, Anaviratti and Vellathooval in Devikulam taluk.
Devikulam revenue divisional officer (RDO) Sabin Sameed had on May 27 issued an order directing the village officers to proceed against the illegal constructions in 15 days. It was a follow up on the order of Idukki Collector Dr A Kowsigan on April 20 which said the eight villages in the Devikulam subdivision were part of the ‘Munnar area’ as defined in the Munnar Special Tribunal Act, 2010, and that any construction in the region required a no-objection certificate from the district collector as was directed by the Kerala High Court.
The High Court, which heard the petitions that followed the Munnar operation of 2007 by the V.S. Achuthanandan Ministry had said construction in the region must have an NOC by the district collector as a regulatory mechanism in the ecologically fragile area.
“The Revenue department has not objected to the permits for buildings which are purely residential in nature,” the revenue department sources said. “All those who apply with a certificate by the village officer that the building was for residential purpose are given the NOC. And the department has issued stop memos to no such buildings.”
CPM leader and Devikulam MLA S. Rajendran had on Saturday lashed out at the officials saying they were acting with vested interests and that they should stop the proceedings forthwith. “The LDF government had taken no policy decision on the issue,” he had claimed.
