Thiruvananthapuram: The confusion surrounding the original extent of the proposed Neelakurunji Sancutuary seems to worsen. A public notice issued by the Idukkki district administration on September 8, 2009, three years after the Sanctuary was notified in October 2006, declares that the total extent of the Neelakurunji Sanctuary as 2230.7211 hectares. This is very close to the extent allegedly described by the present revenue principal secretary (around 2000 hecatres), and nearly 1000 acres lesser than the 3200 hectares claimed as the original spread of the Neelakurunji Sanctuary.
The extent described in the 2009 public notice hints at either of two possibilities. One, the claim of 3200 hectares for the Sanctuary is a bit too exaggerated. Two, the Revenue Department had begun attempts to protect encroachers nearly a decade ago. The pubic notice was issued on the basis of section 21 of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972. The section states that the concerned district collector, after a sanctuary has been notified, has to issue a proclamation through the media inviting persons to submit any claim they have over patches of land included within the proposed sanctuary. In this case, the notice was meant for those who possessed land in Vattavada and Kottakamboor villages, which were notified as the Neelakurunji Sanctuary. (Interestingly, no one had approached the Collector then.)
The original 2006 notification, which gives the geographical limits of the Sanctuary, has given the total area as 3200 hectares. However, the notification emphasizes that the figure is an approximation. The public notice, which comes three years later, too has reproduced the limits given in the notification. But it has given the total extent in definite terms, not approximately. It specifies in definite terms the Sanctuary's spread in the two blocks in Devikulam taluk that constitute the Sanctuary. In 'Block 62' (which is in Vattavada village), the total area earmarked for the sanctuary is 247.7211 hectares. In 'Block 58' (the controversial block in Kottakkamboor Village where Idukki MP Joice George had possessed land), the total extent is 1983 hectares. Together, the area comes to 2230.7211 hectares. "The total extent of the land is given so precisely, to the last decimal point. This suggests that the Idukki district administration had indeed measured the land," a former Revenue Department official said. However, environmentalists see in this proof that attempts to protect encroachers began in 2009 itself. The land that Joice George and family claim to be their in Kottakkamboor had come into their possession in 2005.
