PARAVOOR: District Collector M Beena and other officials visited the Sathar Island in Vadakkekkara panchayat, near here, on Tuesday to find ways to redress the grievances of the residents in the island.
The team was acting on the instructions of Fisheries Minister S Sarma.
The residents, in a petition, had informed the government of their difficulties and miseries. Around 110 families reside in the island, which has an extent of 150 acres, without proper access to the mainland, drinking water supply, electricity and so on. Moreover, around 40 families here have been denied title deeds. The island is submerged in saline water during high tide.
Earlier, the government could not effectively redress the issues as the land belonged to Abdul Sathar Haji Moosa Sait Charitable Trust. Moreover, there are rumours that the land was sold to some private parties against which some litigation is in progress.
The people said that they had only a narrow bridge connecting the island to Maliankara and that they were finding it difficult to have free and safe access to the mainland. They wanted a new bridge to be constructed across the backwaters.
The supply of drinking water was another issue to be tackled. The construction of a 3-km-long retaining wall on the banks would prevent the onslaught of saline water during high tide, they said.
They urged the officials to issue title deeds to all families.
The government should interfere to expedite the litigation process, they said.
The panchayat authorities and the Sathar Island residents submitted a detailed memorandum stating their difficulties. ADM K N Raji, Tahsildar A M Abdul Salam, Additional Tahsildar K K Sidharthan and village officer Joseph were in the team.
The district administration visited the panchayat office and discussed the issues with the panchayat president, the committee members and the public.
The inspection report will be submitted to the government without delay.