Times of India: Madurai: Monday,
April 22, 2013.
At a time
when Vaigai river's width is shortening in many areas due to encroachments on
either side of the bank, villagers of Nelmudikarai near Thirupuvanam in
Sivaganga district are struggling to restore a piece of land which was once
part of the river.
The 6.9 acres
of land was part of the river but occupied by a person by obtaining a patta
through alleged dubious means.
As realtors
are gearing up to sell the land as residential plots, the villagers, who were
fighting to restore the land have launched a fresh struggle. They have also
approached the district administration to cancel the patta and retrieve the
land. R Loganathan, ward councillor of the area said in 1979 the land was
acquired by one K S D Rajendran through alleged fraudulent means. "He had
owned a stretch of 78.6 acres close to the river and had sold the river land
along with his own part," he claimed.
"Although
government norms imply that no part of the river can be sold, patta for the
piece of land was allegedly acquired by Rajendran in 1979. We have been trying
to retrieve the land for the last three years. It was confirmed in the reply
from the revenue department for the query filed under the Right to Information
Act that the land belonged to the river Vaigai," said B Raja, an advocate
from Manalmedu village.
Talking about
the difficulties involved in getting information under the RTI Act, he said,
"When I filed an RTI application under my name, I got a reply that
documents regarding the land were missing. When we filed it under a villager's
name, we got the required information," he said. The RTI reply confirmed
that the piece of land belongs to Vaigai river. The patta for the land was
issued to Rajendran, which was later transferred to Seeni Naina Holdings
Private Limited. Under no circumstance, land belonging to a river could be sold
to a private party. However, by some irregular means, the land was acquired. A
case with regard to the irregularity has also been filed before the Madurai
bench of the Madras high court, he said.
G Rajendran,
another villager said that they insisted the district collector to take up the
issue in the last three farmers' grievance day meetings, but no action was
taken, hence they decided to move the court. They would not give up until the
piece of land is retrieved and restored to the river, he said.Repeated efforts
to contact the district collector V Rajaraman, to get his version on the issue
failed.
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