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LDF nod to amend Wetland Act

The LDF move is also aimed at checking reclamation that had taken place after 2008.

Thiruvananthapuram: LDF state committee on Tuesday decided to finalise changes in the UDF liquor policy only after holding discussions on the proposals among constituent parties. Each constituent parties including CPI, Janata Dal (Secular) NCP and Congress S will hold separate discussions in their own party fora before submitting their views for a general discussion in LDF. The LDF state committee also gave the go ahead to the government to amend Kerala Conservation of Paddy Land and Wetland Act 2008.

The LDF state committee meeting has recommended that the UDF Government’s amendment allowing regularisation of the reclamation of paddy land by paying 25 per cent of fair value should be thrown out. However, the LDF is in favour of allowing reclamation of paddy land up to five cents in urban areas and ten cents in rural areas for construction of houses with special permission. The LDF move is also aimed at checking reclamation that had taken place after 2008. The amendment bill will be brought in the coming session of Assembly. It may be recalled that the reclamation clause, which had been inserted in the Kerala Finance Bill, 2015, stated that paddy fields and wetlands reclaimed before 2008 can be regularised after securing 25 per cent of the fair value of the land from owners. It was tabled in the Assembly on July 27, 2015.

The Bill presented by the former Finance minister K M Mani was passed without voting since the Opposition members staged a walk out even before it was tabled. However, the UDF government had to face severe criticism from its own leaders T N Pratapan and V T Balram, who alleged that it had yielded to pressure from the land mafia. Activists had also alleged that UDF government was trying to dilute the 2008 Act. The LDF also recommended that as part of the KSRTC modernisation plan, the government should appoint a new managing director.

( Source : Deccan Chronicle. )
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