THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: One of the most defining chapters of V S Achuthanandan’s tenure as chief minister was the bold Munnar Mission - a drive to reclaim illegally occupied land in the ecologically vulnerable Munnar region. At 83, Achuthanandan led a crackdown on encroachments ordering demolitions and taking on powerful land mafias and resort lobbies.
The Mission that lasted for 29 days took down 92 buildings and reclaimed around 16,000 acres of government land. And it was three officials handpicked by the CM — K Suresh Kumar, Raju Narayana Swamy and Rishiraj Singh - who led the eviction drive. Fondly called VS’ cats, they had their task cut out.
Former IAS officer K Suresh Kumar, who led the special task force for the cleanup operation, reminisced about the Munnar Mission and his experiences with the veteran leader to TNIE. “The first illegal structure in Munnar was knocked down exactly one year after he took over as CM. Encroachments were mushrooming in Munnar.
There were rumours and allegations that CPI workers were collecting money in the name of ‘Janayugam fund’ from resort operators and encroachers in exchange for protection. There were media reports exposing this nexus and this irritated the CM. He felt it was an embarrassment to his government,” reminisced Suresh Kumar.
In response to this, the then revenue minister K P Rajendran and forest minister Binoy Viswam went to Munnar to study the ground situation. Subsequently, after the visit a few officers in the revenue department were transferred and yet another committee was formed. But, VS received authentic information of large-scale encroachments and serious misuse of Land Assignment Act - that the CPI ministers failed to find out during their visit.
This prompted VS to personally travel to Munnar and check the extent of encroachment and damage. He declared during the visit that illegal structures will be demolished. A report by the then revenue secretary Nivedita P Haran was scheduled to be submitted soon after his visit. VS was convinced through his sources that there were widespread encroachment.
“He personally called me and asked me to study the report. Two lawyers were also there and we spent an entire day at Thycaud Guest House studying the report, which did not have any mention of the ‘Ravindran Pattayams’ and around 500 illegal resorts within Munnar town,” Suresh Kumar said.
There was no mention of the rampant violation of the Land Assignment Act, a law that permits individuals to build homes on 4-5 cents of land. Instead, multi-storey commercial buildings had come up on such plots.
“We told the CM that a blanket decision to clear all illegal encroachment would work and giving exemptions would trap the government in legal hurdles. Rishiraj Singh, then Crime IG, was tasked to assist with a force of 500 police officers.
Raju Narayana Swamy was appointed as the new district collector. VS asked me to begin the demolition drive the very next day. In my nearly three-decade career, I have never seen a politician with VS’ legal clarity and commitment. I was stunned many times while working with him. Not many politicians understood the nuances of the judiciary like he did,” added Suresh Kumar.