The Revenue Department has initiated a probe into widespread complaints of illegal tourism activities and levying of fee from public/tourists by the Kanan Devan Hills Plantations (KDHP).
The tourists and the public are alleged to be taxed by way of entry fee, sight-seeing charge, toll, road-user charge and road maintenance charge, which cannot be done as per the Kanan Devan Hills Resumption Act.
The Secretary of the Land Board, which has got an instruction from the Government Principal Secretary to look into the complaints, had directed the Idukki district administration to look into the issue and file a report at the earliest.
Highly placed officials said that they had been receiving complaints about the levying of fee from the public as well as tourists. They said that as per the Kanan Devan Hills Resumption Act, 1971, the public right is protected and the company has no right over the roads. Further, the roads are now maintained by the concerned panchayats using the state fund. Moreover, they also have no right to sell the greenery to the tourists and above all the land is offered to them on lease for plantation purpose only. It is alleged that the company was levying road user fee of `50 and road maintenance fee of `150. On the allegations, PWD Secretary T O Sooraj told ‘Express’ that an affidavit had been filed in the High Court in this regard. As per the KDH Act, the company does not have any right over the roads and the land has been given to them on lease for plantation purpose only, he said.
Public Interest Protection Association (PIPA), on whose complaint the government had now given the instructions, alleged that the KDHP had erected check points in major tourist spots and roads. PIPA secretary V Mohan Kumar alleged that the road to Devikulam lake from Cigarette Point, road to Mankulam side, Rajamally and to Pothenmedu were all blocked and fee was being levied. Though the authorities were intimated about this many times, they had not taken any action, he claimed.
In the complaint, he alleged that the company was also indulged in non-tea operations. He alleged that `150 per head was being collected from the public/tourists for trekking in the forest areas under the Forest Department.
Moreover, the company is also collecting lakhs of rupees by allowing film shootings. However, Kanan Devan Hills Plantations Co, Pvt Ltd refuted the allegations saying that they go by the law of the country and was not against the government. KDHP Assistant Manager (Legal and Administration) V Thankaraj said that they levied only road maintenance fee and fee for film shooting inside the plantation. “The road maintenance fee is levied as the roads get destroyed when heavy vehicles ply on them. This is done only as per the Land Board order. The fee for film shooting is collected only for maintaining the plantations. If film shooting is done in any other place, wither on the road or outside the plantation, no fee is collected,’’ he said.
