Land mafia on the run

Demolition man VS Achuthanandan won't let anything or anyone get in the way of his 'Munnar Mission'

Jeemon Jacob Thiruvananthapuram

In 1897, the king of Travancore issued a royal proclamation creating the Cardamom Hill Reserve in Munnar, a hill station in Kerala. Hundred years later, the land mafia grabbed this ecologically fragile piece of land with the patronage of politicians. Munnar soon became a concrete jungle with a thriving tourism industry.

Film stars, ministers, legislators, bureaucrats, lawyers and political leaders grabbed land irrespective of their party affiliations. Some of them constructed resorts and minted money while others sold land at exorbitant rates and made hefty profits. The revenue and forest officials reportedly colluded with the land mafia and pocketed their share. By now, 334 sq km of the precious Cardamom Hill Reserve has been sold in bits and pieces.

VS Achuthanandan started his tirade against encroachments in Munnar when he was the opposition leader and accused both the Congress and Kerala Congress leaders of colluding with the land mafia. Later, when he became the chief minister of Kerala, there was pressure on him to walk the talk. He timed his 'Munnar Mission' just after signing the 'Smart City' deal with TECOM, the promoters of Dubai Internet City.

He announced that he was going to start a 'Clean Munnar' drive and deputed three senior officials for the task. K Sureshkumar, additional secretary in the chief minister's office, has been appointed special officer for the demolition drive along with Raju Narayana Swamy, an IAS officer, and Rishiraj Singh, the inspector general of police.

When the chief minister announced the names for the Munnar Mission, Pinarayi Vijayan, state secretary of the CPI-M and a bitter foe, raised objections against Sureshkumar's presence. VS, as the chief minister is popularly known, silenced Pinarayi by explaining that the team had great integrity. Consequently, the team started the demolition drive in Munnar, razing 30 buildings to the ground, including five hill resorts constructed on forest land, and ironically, the CPI's local office. The CPI, a constituent of the Left Democratic Front (LDF), raised feeble objections but could not prevent its office from being demolished.

The chief minister has earned considerable public support that has obviously irked Vijayan. Reacting to reports that the eviction drive in Munnar was a major achievement, Vijayan said the credit should go to the ruling LDF rather than any particular individual. "The decision on the Munnar eviction and the ambitious Smart City project was taken collectively by the CPM-led Left Democratic Front and it is wrong to credit a particular person for initiating such measures," Vijayan said.

Later, VS revealed to the media that objections were raised about his demolition team and the Munnar Mission by the very individuals who are now claiming credit for the drive. Vijayan retaliated by saying that the chief minister had violated party discipline. "He is a responsible politburo member. He should not have raised suspicions about another politburo member in the media," he said at a news conference on May 23.

"If he (Vijayan) says I have crossed the limits of a politburo member, he should think about it, as it is also applicable to him," VS came up with his explanation next day. Pinarayi repeated his accusation against the 'media syndicate' which, he said, was trying to divide the CPI-M.

As a result, the CPI-M politburo had to take action against Achuthanandan and Vijayan for violating party discipline by making public statements against each other. On May 26, party general secretary Prakash Karat announced the suspension of both leaders from the politburo. This was the third time the politburo took action against VS, who was elevated to politburo membership in 1985.

The politburo had in fact earlier been lenient to VS and supported him in his election bid from Malampuzha in 2006 and even intervened when Pinarayi tried to block him from becoming chief minister. VS, however, in his latest public outburst showed no regard for party discipline expected from a senior member. Pinarayi too lost his calm and reacted to events in a volatile manner. Now, the Central Committee meeting scheduled on June 24 will ratify disciplinary actions against VS and Pinarayi. Although they may not lose their positions, their credibility in the party have been damaged.

A senior party member thinks the politburo decision will put an end to the present chaos in the party. “If the politburo had taken a strong position earlier, things would not have come to this level,” he pointed out.

Meanwhile, the demolition drive is spreading across the state. Ernakulam District Collector, Hanees Ahmed, evicted, shopkeepers who had encroached on revenue land. In Alappuzha and Wayanad, similar demolitions are going on.