After years of legal battle, Revenue department reclaims 12 acres of government land at Chinnakkanal

After years of legal battle, the Revenue department on Thursday reclaimed 12.41 acres of government land in Chinnakkanal village under Udumbanchola taluk in Idukki.

According to Revenue department officials, 12 people, including Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)] Santhanpara area committee member V.X. Albin, encroached upon government land and forged titles for the land. The reclaimed land include 2.88 acres on both sides of the Chinnakkanal-Vilak-70-acre road which was encroached upon by seven people and 9.53 acres near the Chinnakkanal-Suryanelli road encroached upon by five people.

According to a Revenue department report, a group of people encroached upon the revenue land in the 2006 period. They encroached upon the land allocated to Hindustan Newsprints Ltd (HNL) in Chinnakkanal village. Mr. Albin claimed that he purchased 2.80 acres of land from a woman named Anthoniammal, while another person, Siby Thomas, claimed ownership of 3.25 acres based on a title deed held by Marcos Isahac. The duo approached the Kerala High Court and the court directed the District Collector to take further action. Based on the directive, the Idukki Collector in April 2007 ordered to grant possession rights of the land to Mr. Siby and Mr. Albin. But the Munnar Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) had raised doubts over the ownership of the land and filed a complaint before the Collector. The Udumbanchola tahsildar then conducted a detailed probe, revealing a discrepancy between the survey numbers of the original land and the claimed lands. The Revenue department then launched steps to reclaim the land, but the encroachers again approached the High Court. In September 2024, the High Court dismissed the petitions filed by Mr. Albin and others and directed the Idukki Collector to evict the encroachers from the government land.

Udumbanchola tahsildar (Land Records) Sreeramakrishnan S.G. said that the Revenue department reclaimed the government land after years of legal battle. “After completing the eviction process, officials led by the Chinnakkanal village officer fixed a government-owned-land board in the area,” said the official.

However, Mr. Albin claimed that he had purchased the land which had now been reclaimed by the Revenue department and would file a complaint before the department.