KOCHI: The Kerala High Court, on Thursday, urged the state government to reconsider its decision regarding the inclusion of the Idukki district collector in the election team for northern states. The court was made aware that the collector’s relocation for election duty in North India might hinder the completion of court-ordered steps to remove encroachments in the Idukki district.
The Division Bench issued the order when a petition seeking to remove encroachments and stop illegal constructions in Munnar and other areas in the Idukki district came up for hearing. The court pointed out that it had directed the collector to initiate the proceedings under the Disaster Management Act to identify the hazardous areas and also to restrict constructions in accordance with the state plan prepared by the Kerala State Disaster Management Authority.
These matters have been pending before the Court for a decade and more than 300 encroachers have been identified. “In that process, if the Collector is shifted, we are sure that the entire process will be derailed,” said the Bench. Therefore, the court requested the government to reconsider if any other official could be included in the election team.