Kerala High Court orders Idukki resurvey

Kochi: The  Kerala High Court has asked the state to conduct the re-survey of the lands in Idukki district,  which was stopped back in 2007,  and complete it within one year. The court observed that because of erroneous surveys,  disputes had emerged and things had  become cumbersome. A division bench comprising acting Chief Justice Mohan M. Shantanagoudar and Justice K.T. Sankaran passed the order while considering a petition filed by Sebastian Abraham, District Consumers’ Vigilance Forum, Idukki, and nine Idukki natives.

“The re-survey cannot be stopped by the government once and for ever. Documents have to be rectified based on the re-survey. Till such rectification is made, peace will not exist in the locality.  Based on forged or fabricated documents,  litigation cropped up and there are  law and order problems in Idukki,” the court said. The petitioners submitted  that many people had  suffered due to maladministration of the survey department.

They sought to rectify all the mistakes that happened in the re-survey measurements as recorded in the revenue records of Idukki district within a stipulated period. The government informed the court that it had decided to pass an order stopping the survey work in 2007 in view of the difficulties faced during the survey in Idukki district.

The petitioners contended  that the survey conducted earlier by the survey department was not in accordance with the law which had  given rise to a number of litigation and that even the authorities were not willing to help the needy people though they own lands. The state also admitted the fact that mistakes had  crept in while surveying the land and that such mistakes need to be rectified. The survey department said that despite difficulties faced by department,  it had already completed the re-survey in 39 villages.