Coming down heavily on the state government, the Kerala High Court has asked it to immediately consider steps to regulate the conversion of paddy and wetlands for the construction of buildings. “If the situation is not brought under control, even God will not be able to save ‘God’s Own Country’. It is high time that the state restricted land reclamation,” the court observed. Most of the cases regarding Kerala Land Utilisation Order came to the court after the Land Revenue Commissioner had denied permission, foreseeing the state becoming a jungle of concrete buildings.
The posterity can be saved only if the authorities wake up from the deep slumber and initiate steps to conserve the land, the court held.
Justice S Siri Jagan passed the order on a petition filed by Killimangalam Paanjal Nellulpadaka Sangham Chelakkara challenging the filling work being carried out by the two land owners. It is understood that the government is planning to make the land reclamation liberal by amending the Act.
The court flayed the state for amending the Kerala Conservation of Paddy and Wetland Act 2008 and observed that the decision has diluted the Kerala Land Utilisation Order 1967 beyond recognition.
However, the state said that it had already decided to regularise all conversions that had taken place before 2008. The court said that the Kerala Land Utilisation Order, enacted to protect agricultural lands, was used to convert the land rather than protecting it. “The Kerala Land Utilisation Order 1967 was enacted with the avowed objective to protect the agricultural lands. If one compares the total agricultural land in 1967 to that available today, it can be seen that the Order failed to check the disturbing trend of agricultural land conversion. The need of the hour is to find out ways and means to encourage people to engage in agriculture,” the court held.
The court pointed out that the discretionary power under the KLU Order should be used sparingly. The court further asked the government and the Thrissur District Collector to see to it that the converted agricultural land in Killimangalam in Chelakkara is restored to its original status at the expense of the land owners.
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