KOTTAYAM: The state government approving the reclamation of the 378 acres of wetland of Methran Kayal in Kumarakom for tourism has once again brought to attention the issue of filling up wetlands in the state which will jeopardise ecology and environment.
The cabinet meeting scheduled on Wednesday will reportedly consider the issue.
The Kerala High Court in an order on Tuesday maintained that status quo should be continued and no construction or developmental activities should be effected.
Meanwhile, the Methran Kayal protection struggle committee (MKPSC) demanded that the government withdraw the order issued by the additional secretary of Revenue department for the reclamation of the wetland alleging that it had been issued by flouting norms as well as sidelining the objection of various government departments and the local panchayath.
The history of Methran Kayal
The Methran Kayal, having up to 420 acres of wetland, was given to the Syrian Orthodox Church by the erstwhile king of Travancore in 1938 for the cultivation of paddy. The Church leased the land to farmers. When the Kerala land reforms Act came into effect in 1963, the land was distributed to the 108 farmers of the region.
The tourism project is by ‘Rakindo developers’ a joint venture of 19 companies between ‘Rakeen’, a joint stock company promoted by the government of Ras –Al- Khaima, UAE and Trimex group in India, which bought the land from the farmers in 2006-2008, to develop it for tourism.
The farmers were given compensation ranging from Rs 5000 rupees to Rs 15 lakhs for purchasing the land, sources said. Around 100 brokers from Kumarakom and Alappuzha were involved in the purchase on behalf of the company, said sources from Kumarakom. Mr Deepak Dayanandan, Convenor of the MKPSC told DC that local political party leaders worked for the company to purchase the land.
The 19 companies later became 34 companies to overcome the hurdles in the land reform Act 1963. However, NK Alexander, one of the farmers, who owned 9 acres of land, resisted this and approached the High Court in 2014 demanding it allow him to continue paddy cultivation. The High Court in its order in 2014 and February 2016 maintained that till the case was finally heard ‘no construction or developmental activities should be carried out in Methran Kayal”.
The proposed project is in violation of the wetland conservation and management rules 2010, and the Kerala conservation of paddy land and wet land Act 2008. The MKPSC was formed in 2008 to resist the reclamation. In 2009, the local level monitoring committee placed its strong objection to the tourism project. The Kumarakom grama panchayath also objected in 2010 maintaining that the reclamation should not be allowed and agricultural activities resumed.
Latest resolution by the panchayath
The panchayath on Tuesday passed a unanimous resolution that no tourism activities should take place and any action that violates the 2008 paddy wetland Act should not be permitted.
The Kerala legislative committee on environment headed by Rajaji Mathew Thomas conducted a public consultation at the Kottayam Collectorate and later visited the proposed site and maintained that reclamation should not be allowed as it would violate the environmental balance of the region.
Various government departments submitted reports between 2011 and 2014. The fisheries department said the breeding zone of fishes would be affected while the environment department held that no environment impact study was undertaken.
The local self government department held that the reclamation of wetland would require a large quantity of sand and also dredging would be inevitable which was disastrous to Vembanad lake. Even the industries department held that the proposed project was a violation of the 2008 paddy wetland act.
“The latest decision of the Revenue department is in violation of these reports submitted by the legislative committee as well as by the government departments such as fisheries, local self government, environment, industries department and agriculture department which all objected to the reclamation of land”, said Deepak Dayanandan.
The Kerala State Karshaka Thozhilaly union(KSKTU) which raised the issue from the beginning says that if the proposed project was not resisted, the land adjacent to Methran Kayal too would be encroached by the land mafia and corporates. KSKTU district vice president MK Prabhakaran, who led the struggles against the reclamation, said KSKTU would intensify its struggle in the coming days.
