KOTTAYAM: Over 10,000 settlers in Idukki district will be given title deeds on Saturday. Some 2,000 persons belonging to the Tenth Chain region in the district, who were denied title deeds earlier owing to various reasons, will also get the deeds. Revenue Minister E. Chandrasekharan will distribute the documents at functions to be held at Irattayaar, Adimali and Kumali. The settlers belonging to the Tenth Chain region surrounding Idukki reservoir were excluded from the title deeds owing to confusion over land acquisition for the hydroelectric project.
Though the project was abandoned considering the additional costs, those who were entitled to get the title deeds were not given them owing to the confusion. Title deeds will be given to 10, 800 people who have migrated before January 1, 1977 and possessed the land since that period. Earlier, title deeds were given to 5,500 persons in May 2017. "The title deeds distribution on Saturday will be the biggest in recent history and the settlers in five taluks in the district will get them," Idukki collector G.R. Gokul told DC.
The High Range Samrakshana Samithi termed it as a land mark event in the state. Another 50,000 families have not yet received the title deeds, says Father Sebastian Kochupurackal, convenor of HRSS. However, according to the collector, only 25,000 persons are yet to get them.
