THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The House witnessed one of the most important legislations passed by the Assembly - The Kerala Conservation of Paddy Land and Wetland Act 2008 - being butchered by its own creator, said Opposition Leader Ramesh Chennithala. The 2008 Bill passed by the then LDF Government was watered down by the incumbent LDF dispensation, Chennithala said in an article. The 2018 Kerala Conservation of Paddy Land and Wetland Act (amendment), which struck down the major provisions of the parent Act, was passed by the incumbent government abusing the mandate it received from the people of Kerala.
The Act is widely perceived by intelligentsia and environmentalists as the most detrimental step to ecology. The provision laid down in the new Act destroys the heart and soul of the parent Act once touted as the Magna Carta in the History of Kerala legislature. This will pave way for the land grabbers and real estate mafia to reclaim paddy fields aggressively.
The Paddy Land and Wetland Act 2008 was introduced to prevent indiscriminate reclamation of wetland/paddy fields, stop massive conversion of paddyfields and to promote agriculture in State.
The 2008 Act, along with subsequent measures taken by governments had brought about an increase in the paddy cultivation in the first five years. More importantly, the Act had ensured further depletion of the Wetland and Paddy fields does not occur.
However, the 2016-17 economic review presents some startling statistics on the depletion in the paddy cultivation in Kerala. As per records, the area of paddy fields under cultivation plummeted from 1.9 lakh hectares to 1.7 hectares from 2015-16 to 2016-17 financial year while the total food production decreased from 5.49 lakh tonnes to 4.37 lakh tonnes. It is in this context the Kerala Conservation of Paddy Land and Wetland Act, 2008 gains profound importance.
The amendments to the Act alter 14 of the major clauses in the original Act and destroy the very purpose of the Act. The amendment brings in a new category of land ‘Unnotified land’ other than the existing lands paddy fields, wetlands, drylands mentioned in the original Act. Unnotified land is land which is mentioned as paddy fields or wetlands in the Basic Tax Register, but isn’t notified as paddy fields or wetlands in the data bank created under relevant sections of the original Act. Ironically, after 10 years of its implementation, the databank has not been completed in most of the panchayats in the state. This provision renders the Act porous and opens it up for widespread exploitation for real estate mafia and land grabbers. The new Act also dilutes the authority of the Local Level Monitoring Committee by replacing its recommendatory powers to mere reporting powers.
The government usurps the powers held by the local and district-level committees to become the sole decider for reclaiming wetlands and paddy field for ‘public’ purposes even without accessing the environmental impact assessments. The term ‘public purpose’ is liable to be exploited. The most dangerous provision in the new Act (Clause 15 , 27 c) allows the tahsildar to alter the revenue records which is in gross violation of the Supreme Court verdict. It is now the responsibility of all citizens to make sure the porous legislation is not overtly exploited by the land grabbers and real estate mafia. The UDF will continue its fight till the detrimental provisions are withdrawn through subsequent amendments, Chennithala said.