Moolampilly evictees mourn another anniversary of failed promise
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It is 13 years since some households had been evicted forcibly for the rail and highway connectivity of the Vallarpadam terminal
In their sordid story spanning over the past 13 years, the households evicted, some of them forcibly, for the rail and highway connectivity of the Vallarpadam International Transshipment Container Terminal, have unfailingly mourned anniversaries of many unfulfilled guarantees.
This Sunday marks the tenth anniversary of the revised Moolampilly rehabilitation package deal, which is much from being absolutely applied.
So far, solely 42 out of the 316 evicted households have moved into homes on the rehabilitation plots. Four out of seven of these plots are reclaimed land and located defective by the Public Works Department. In reality, 4 homes on two such plots at Thuthiyoor, close to Kakkanad, have both developed cracks or tilted to a aspect.
“Since eviction, 32 evictees have died without being rehabilitated. The government should appoint a dedicated officer with discretionary powers for rehabilitation, as entrusting the task with the same administrative machinery that carried out the eviction is inherently flawed. The government should help to strengthen the rehabilitation plots and arrange soft loans for constructions since the compensation granted over a decade ago is now woefully short,” mentioned Francis Kalathunkal, common convener, Moolampilly Coordination Committee.
The newly sworn-in Revenue Minister K. Rajan mentioned a stock-taking of the Moolampilly situation could be carried out on a precedence foundation shortly. “A commitment given to the people by the State should be honoured irrespective of the political formation in power,” he mentioned.
Senior Congress chief V.M. Sudheeran, who has at all times aligned with the evictees, petitioned the Minister to chair a gathering to quick observe the rehabilitation. “The injustice meted out to Moolampilly evictees is a blot on our democratic, political, and administrative systems. At a time when we are going ahead with major development projects, entailing displacement of thousands of people, questions will be raised about trusting a system that cannot even rehabilitate 316 families even after 13 years,” he mentioned.
Mr. Sudheeran additionally flayed the inertia of the District Collector-chaired monitoring committee entrusted to evaluation the progress of the rehabilitation.
Leader of Opposition V. D. Satheeshan mentioned that the matter could be taken up within the Assembly.
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