Govt can acquire estate land, says High Court, Wayanad township project to be officially announced soon

KALPETTA/ KOCHI: With the High Court clearing the way for the government to acquire estate land for the rehabilitation of Wayanad disaster victims, the township project is likely to be officially announced at the next cabinet meeting. The meeting, postponed due to the demise of MT Vasudevan Nair, is expected to take place soon.

The government plans to acquire 143 acres from Elstone Estate and Harrison Malayalam's Nedumbala Estate. The government is optimistic that there won't be any further obstacles in acquiring the land. The land survey is expected to be completed within a week, and the Detailed Project Report (DPR) will be prepared within two weeks. A nodal officer has already been appointed for this. The plan involves constructing 1,000 homes, each with a built-up area of 1,000 square feet, on plots of five to ten cents. The goal is to complete the project in a single phase. The township will be located at Nedumbala in Meppadi and near the Kalpetta bypass. The construction work is likely to be entrusted to the Uralungal Society.

The Chief Minister will hold a meeting with those who have promised to provide houses to the disaster-affected people. The meeting will take place in the first week of January. Earlier, the draft beneficiary list prepared by the sub-collector had drawn widespread complaints. These complaints will be addressed before the official publication of the list. The disaster, which occurred on July 30, affected nearly a thousand families.

Government can acquire land after providing compensation

The High Court has granted the government permission to acquire land from two tea estates after paying full compensation directly to the owners. The government had earlier proposed depositing the compensation amount in court, as there are ongoing legal cases related to cancelling the title deeds and reclaiming the estates. Justice Kauser Edappagath ruled that if the title deed cases are decided against the estate owners, they must refund the compensation. On October 4, an order was issued to acquire 65.41 hectares from Harrison’s Nedumbala Tea Estate and 78.73 hectares from Kalpetta’s Elstone Estate.

The High Court clarified that owners, who submitted all necessary documentation, are entitled to adequate compensation under the Land Acquisition and Rehabilitation Act (2013). The estate owners had approached the High Court pointing out that the government was attempting to acquire their land under the Disaster Management Act (2015) without providing compensation.

• The government must determine the compensation amount for land acquisition in accordance with the Land Acquisition and Rehabilitation Act.
• If the compensation amount is not satisfactory, estate owners may initiate a dispute resolution process.
• Landowners must cooperate in tasks such as land measurement and boundary determination.