Nilgiris tea estates not realty hotspots: Ex-bureaucrat flags violations

CHENNAI: The Land Ceiling Act by Tea Estates in The Nilgiris has been flouted, says a former bureaucrat, leading to the conversion of tea estates into realty ventures.

He has urged the State government to take cognisance of the violation that has severely damaged the verdant environs.

Confederation of Environment Associations of Nilgiris (Kotagiri chapter) chairperson Surjit K Chaudhary, on October 31, has dashed off a five-page letter to TN chief secretary N Muruganandam, calling for action against the officials and all other violators. He listed out several anomalies in the Nilgiris through his letter, a copy of which is available with DT Next.

Starting with the Tamil Nadu Land Reforms Act of 1961, he points to the rules under which a family of not more than five members is eligible to hold 15 acres of agricultural land (reduced to 7.5 acres post-amendment in the 1970s). “The Act is the primary legislation that governs the maximum amount of agricultural land that a family or individual can hold in the State,” Chaudhary says, as he seeks to highlight the basic tenets of the Act that was enacted to reduce disparities in land ownership, prevent the concentration of land in a few hands, and acquire surplus land for redistribution to the landless poor peasants and other eligible individuals.

Though a section 73(iv) of the said Act exempts tea estates on the ground that the lands would be used for cultivation purposes, he points out that “any violation in the change of use of land from tea cultivation to any other purpose shall stand cancelled, and the Government shall resume the concerned land.”

Chaudhary has charged that some tea estates in the hilly district have converted their land into residential and commercial use in collusion with local authorities. He has alleged that individual sale deeds have been executed in blatant violation of the provisions of the said Act.

He cites the example of the Drumella residential and commercial colony in Yedapalli village of Coonoor taluk, which has reportedly violated the law over a period of time. Likewise, many other tea estates, such as Brooklands and other tea estates in the same and nearby taluks of the district, have been converting the estate lands for non-tea cultivation purposes.

Chaudhary questions the administration’s clearance of parent documents and encumbrances without full scrutiny, holding that “the land cannot be parcelled and sold under the law.”

Pointing fingers at the local revenue authorities, the Yedallapalli panchayat, Coonoor BDO for having allowed the illegal authorisation, the retired bureaucrat says many of the properties are adjacent to the Reserve Forest. Concrete and black topped roads have been built within the tea estates, which raises the question of “how this violation has been permitted and tolerated.”

Not sparing the registered engineers and architects involved in such projects, he says their registration with government authorities is subject to the condition that no law or rule is violated. He adds that no action has been taken against such professionals for their “derelictions.”

Seeking effective and immediate action against all the violators, he has urged the government to take back all the parcelled lands under the Land Ceiling Act into its possession and restore their lawful status.