KOvalam Land: tension brews up

Tension brews up in Kovalam over a land related to a more than 200 year old temple with the temple authorities alleging that a private major hotel group was trying to encroach on its property  and the adjacent land that belongs to the government.  The temple authorities allege that the recent developments will only lead to a divide in the society.   

As per the documents, the temple has about 1.50 acres of land, which has now been challenged by the Hotel group. The hotel group even managed to get a stay for the majority of the land that belongs to the Keezhathil Sree Mahaganapathy Temple.  ''The issue is related to a property that belongs to the temple for more than 200 years. All the documents show the temple has about 1.5 acres acres of land,'' temple secretary Ramachandran said.

Stating that it was a serious issue, he claimed that the hotel group does not have any right over the property as only an extent of 40. 72 acres of land, which also includes the Kovalam palace, was sold to them. ''As per the records with the Vizhinjam village office,  there are only two subdivisions in resurvey number 7 in block 14. The land of the ITDC comes in subdivision 1 and that of the temple comes in subdivision 2. ''

Apart from this, Ramachandran said that the Advocate Commission appointed by the Neyyattinkara Court had given a false report. ''In the report, the land of the temple is shown to be in resurvey 29/1. But the documents and records in the village office show that the temple and the land is in resurvey 7/2 and has about 1.50 acres. The resurvey number that is indicated by the commission is about a kilometre away from where the temple is situated,'' he said.  

Moreover, it is alleged that the ITDC was keeping silence on the remaining 20 acres of land that belongs to it after 40.72 acres of land was sold.  It is estimated that the land would cost about Rs 400 crore as per the latest market rates.  The village records clearly show that an extent of 18.176 acres is still in the name of ITDC even after a portion of the land was sold. 

Source: The Newindian Express 

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