A row is underway over 21 acres of land belonging to the Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB) handed over to the Rajakkad Cooperative Bank in Idukki, without the permission of the state Revenue Department. The cooperative bank in question, overseen by the ruling CPI(M), is headed by B Kunjumon, who is the president, and also the son-in-law of former Power Minister MM Mani. MM Mani is the CPI(M)’s face in the district.
As the issue came to light and triggered a row, MM Mani in his response claimed that the land transaction did not take place during his term as minister and added that his son-in-law was not in charge of the cooperative bank at the time either. However, documents accessed by TNM suggest otherwise.
An order dated March 2, 2019 issued by the KSEB stated that the Kerala Hydel Tourism Centre, under the board, granted permissive sanction for promoting hydel tourism activities at Kallarkutty and Ponmudi dam sites. MM Mani held the electricity portfolio in the Cabinet from 2016 to 2021. Kunjumon, too, reportedly took charge as the President of the Rajakkad Cooperative Bank in December, 2018.
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In October 2019, Udumbanchola tahsildar submitted an enquiry report to the District Collector over the area that was leased, stating that some of the lands in question come under ‘poramboke’ land and were in the catchment area of the Ponmudi dam in Idukki district.The enquiry was done as directed by the Collector.
“It has been learnt that the construction work for setting up a park as a part of the hydel tourism project comes under survey number 351 of the catchment area. This area comes under where re-survey of land has not been carried out. As per the documents submitted by the Kerala State Electricity Board, it's seen that 87,826.87 hectare of land under the survey numbers of 351 and 350 is poramboke. More examination is needed in the matter,” the letter stated.
Following this, the Revenue Minister sought a report from the Idukki District Collector, who submitted a probe report to the government. "This was based on the report by the Udumbanchola tahsildar and pointed out that the 21 acres including 76 acres of land in Ponmudi are ‘revenue poramboke’ land. The report also recommends a verification in the area. But the poramboke land was handed over to Rajakkad Cooperative Bank without approval from the Revenue Department," a revenue official told TNM.
"The land in Ponmudi is only under KSEB possession, not ownership. Before handing over the land, KSEB must collect approval from the Revenue Department and provide lease money. But in Ponmudi, the land was handed over to the Rajakkad Cooperative Bank without this permission," the official added.
Idukki District Congress Committee (DCC) general secretary Bijo Mani, who first raised the issue in 2019, said that the bank undertook cardamom farming in the leased land under the banner of farm tourism. "How can a bank cultivate cardamom in a high-security area around the Ponmudi dam?" he asked.
He also said that it was not only in Ponmudi that such incidents were reported. "In Anayirankal, the Hydel Tourism Wing handed over the land to a paper organisation which was formed only 16 days before the agreement. Most of the hydel tourism projects were received by cooperative societies and banks overseen by the ruling CPI(M)," he alleged.
The toursim spot
Meanwhile, in a Facebook post earlier this week, the KSEB Chairman B Ashok mentioned that “land was also handed over to various societies in the name of tourism development.”
A news report in Mathrubhumi the next day (February 15), interpreted that the mention was about the Munnar Tourism Development Co-Operative Society, where a four acre-land was allegedly handed over to the CPI(M)-overseen Munnar cooperative bank. Then, the bank started the construction of an amusement park on the land. Following this, a Congress leader approached the High Court over the illegal land transaction. The court sought a report from Idukki District Collector Sheeba George. Last week, the Collector submitted her report before the court which said that it will consider the case on February 21.
As per an agreement with the Munnar Cooperative Bank, the quoted revenue share was allegedly very less for the hydel tourism centre from the hydel tourism park in Munnar. The agreement stated that the revenue earned from the project would be shared in an 80:20 ratio between the cooperative bank and the Kerala Hydel Tourism Centre. The hydel tourism director then sent a letter to the bank to review the deal.
"The handover land is the catchment area of Munnar headworks dam and it is a wetland. In the 2018 flood period, the area was filled with water. How can we allow construction in wetland areas?" asked environmentalist MN Jayachandran. However, Munnar cooperative bank president KV Sasi said that before the agreement, they followed all proceedings. "The bank quoted the highest rate and we got the contract," he said.
Edited by Nitin B