1,582 acres of land resumed: Thiruvanchoor

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Revenue Minister Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan on Wednesday said that the government had resumed 1,582 acres of encroached land from  Udumbanchola and Devikulam taluks under the Devikulam revenue division and Vagamon areas.He told reporters here that the second phase of the Munnar eviction process would begin soon. A meeting of the experts and officials will be  convened on August 2.He said in the Devikulam Revenue Division, encroachers were evicted from 922.99 acres of land from Devikulam andUdumbanchola taluks. The other areas cleared of encroachments are Chinnakanal village (471.47 acres), KDH Village (189.14 acres), Bison Valley (71 acres)and  Amaravathy village (2 acres). At Wagamon, the government had resumed 472 acres of land, he said.The Minister said 80 acres were cleared of encroachments at Manjumala, 31 acres at Upputhara, 26 acres at Kokkayar, 20 acres at Peermade, 14 acres at Elappara, 10 acres at Periyar, 5.18 acres at Peruvanthanam and 45 cents at Kumili. He said in connection with encroachment, 42 cases were pending in the High Court and 15 cases in other courts. He said that revenue inspectors had been engaged to take care of the evicted land and ensure that no further encroachment took place.He said the survey at the KDH Village was 99 per cent complete.  He also said that the land under the possession of the Tatas belonged to the Forest Department.