Lok Ayukta orders Kerala govt. to rehabilitate families displaced for Veli tourist village

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The Lok Ayukta has ordered the Kerala authorities to supply 5 cents each to 18 families, whose holdings were acquired for mounting up an amusement parkland astatine Veli tourer colony successful Thiruvananthapuram a 4th period ago, and manus implicit rubric deeds successful 4 months.

A Division Bench of the forum consisting of Lok Ayukta N. Anilkumar and Upa Lok Ayukta V. Shircy besides ordered that the reclamation of the onshore identified for rehabilitating the families successful Kadakampally colony should beryllium readied by pursuing a broad program for h2o conservation and travel management. The funds should beryllium released for the enactment without further delay. The plots should beryllium demarcated for the respective families, and rubric deeds conferring afloat ineligible rubric to the onshore issued wrong 4 months, the sheet ordered.

The authorities earlier issued an bid for the conversion of the wetland, which is to beryllium transferred to the families successful accordance with the directives of the Lok Ayukata.

The sheet has asked the State authorities to record an Action Taken Report connected September 3, erstwhile it again considers the case.

The forum noted that the complainant families, who were “poor, marginalised, and shelter-less, suffered sedate injustice and prolonged hardship connected relationship of the nonaccomplishment of the Government to honour its committedness of rehabilitation made astatine the clip of the acquisition successful 2001.”

The affected families had been moving the authorities for the past 25 years without immoderate results.

Unfulfilled promise: panel

As the onshore was acquired for a nationalist purpose, the Land Acquisition Act and assorted authorities policies mandate rehabilitation and resettlement of affected persons arsenic portion of the broader nonsubjective of ensuring societal justice. The government, astatine the clip of acquisition successful 2001, gave an unequivocal assurance of providing alternate onshore and employment to the members of the families. Trusting the committedness made by the government, the families relinquished their homes and lands. However, adjacent aft 2 decades, the authorities repeatedly failed to fulfil its commitment, citing method and procedural hurdles, including the classification of onshore arsenic paddy onshore and restrictions nether the Kerala Conservation of Paddy Land, which was unjustified, the sheet concluded.

The “prolonged nonaccomplishment of the State to honour its solemn committedness cannot beryllium justified nether the guise of procedural oregon method impediments, and specified behaviour not lone violates ineligible norms but besides undermines the religion of citizens successful the fairness and accountability of nationalist administration,” it held.

Published - March 20, 2026 11:35 p.m. IST

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