IDUKKI: Chokramudi, a habitat of the highly endangered Nilgiri Tahr and Neelakurinji, a flower that blooms once in 12 years, has come under the spotlight after a joint verification by the revenue department unearthed many rule violations, including large-scale illegal constructions, that threaten its fragile landscape.
Protecting the hill associated with the life and sustainability of a community of people settled in the Bisonvalley panchayat, located earlier in the Udumbanchola taluk and now in the Devikulam taluk of Idukki district, is crucial as it is a Red Zone declared spot in the state disaster management authority’s zonal map.
Although illegal encroachments were mushrooming on the hill in the past few years, the gravity of a recent construction activity done by an Adimali resident on nearly 1.5 hectares of Pattaya land he had owned at Chokramudi came to the notice of the local residents only recently. Chokramudi resident Baiju Balakrishnan recollects that in July when heavy rain lashed the Devikulam area, muddy water gushed down the stream from the hill and the residents were worried whether it was a landslide. “Upon inspection the following morning, the residents came to know that an illegal check dam had been built on the hill and its breach resulted in the heavy gush of water,” he said.
Baiju said Chokramudi, falling under ward five of Bisonvalley panchayat, is home to nearly 700 families and another 100 Muthuvan tribal families, who have been settlers in this area for nearly a century. Other residents in this area are Scheduled Tribe communities (80 people). The 700 families in the area are migrant settlers. However, two years ago, small-scale illegal construction activities began in the red zone area of Chokramudi on Pattaya land with the approval of the revenue department authorities.
The works began with the felling of eucalyptus trees and later progressed to the construction of a concrete road, the check dam and the blasting of rocks, he said.
After the issue attracted media attention, Devikulam tahsildar sought a report from the Bisonvalley village officer on the issue. As per the report given by the village officer, illegal construction works have been done on the 1.4667-hectares of Pattaya land owned by Adimali residents Siby Joseph and his wife Sini Sibi in Chokramudi. The report said construction works were carried out regardless of the stop memo issued twice from the village office on July 5, 2023, and on August 23, 2024.
The report said temporary pathways built to transport wood from the land were later concreted and tarred. Besides, a small pool was widened and reconstructed with a length of 16m and a width of 10m. A no-objection certificate has been sanctioned from the taluk office to construct a building on the plot, the report said.
The issue grabbed headlines as residents, including tribal people, organised protests, forcing political parties and other organisations, including the Congress, the RSS, the CPM, the CPI, the KPMS and the VHP, to extend support to the residents’ ‘Save Chokramudi’ campaign. Under pressure, the revenue minister ordered an immediate report from the Idukki district collector on the issue. While the investigation by the special committee formed by District Collector V Vigneswari is progressing, a special team led by IGP North Zone and its chairman K Sethuraman visited Chokramudi on August 29.
The investigation held by the special team on the illegal construction on Chokramudi unearthed large-scale encroachment of government land by the real estate mafia and official involvement. As per the report submitted by the team at the High Court, land-related procedures were expedited on Chokramudi hills after a Chennai resident, Maijo Joseph, applied to the revenue department in 2023 seeking to demarcate his plot’s boundaries. “The application was forwarded to the Idukki collectorate, and former Idukki deputy collector Manoj K forwarded it to the Udumbanchola tahsildar, directing immediate action. The tahsildar handed it over to the taluk surveyor, who gave a sketch of the plot, including 354.59 hectares ‘government rock puramboke’,” said the report.
By including the 354.59 hectares of government rock puramboke in the sketch, the surveyor committed a serious violation and gave ownership over government land to a private party, it said. In yet another major violation, the Devikulam tahsildar had also issued a no-objection certificate to Sibi and Sini Sibi, who bought the land from Maijo Joseph, for constructing a building in the red zone declared area, the report said.
The report further said, the grasslands in Chokramudi where the Neelakurinji plants had stood were harmed using chemical substances by the encroachers. Apart from damaging the highly endemic flora, the naturally originating water sources from the hill were also poisoned, posing a danger to residents in the valley, it said. The report recommended action against the violators as per the Land Conservancy Act 1957 and departmental action against the officials who supported the encroachers in the land grab.
Tribes demand protection of their cultural heritage. The Muthuvan tribal people settled in Chokramudi, deeply concerned about the potential environmental degradation and the impact on their cultural heritage, organised a protest at the Chokramudi hill and presented a memorandum to the district collector and sub collector urging them to stop the construction activities immediately.
“Our livelihoods depend on Chokramudi, which when translated means the hill where Chokrunadhan (Lord Shiva) presides,” R Kumaraswamy, the chief of Chokramudi settlement, said. He said if the rocks were blasted and the hill was mined, it would destroy their land. “This mountain is home to our deities and we will fight tooth and nail to prevent any illegal construction activity,” he said.
The Muthuvan Adivasi Samudhaya Sangham, an organisation for the Muthuvan tribal community in the state, has also extended their support to the tribe’s people’s effort to save Chokramudi hill.
Meanwhile, Devikulam sub collector Jayakrishnan V M, who visited Chokramudi along with the officials of the mining and geology, forest and the PWD departments on Tuesday, said, after investigating in detail into the issue and verifying the technical and environmental aspects of the construction works which have been done, a report will be submitted after joint discussion and submission of reports by other departments. “If any malpractices have occurred from the officials’ part, that will also be enquired along with the legality of the land documents,” he said.
It is learned that environmental organisations may move to HC demanding a CBI inquiry into the corruption and malpractices by revenue officials. A protest march and blockade in front of the Bisonvalley village office will be organised under the leadership of the Chokramudi Samrakshana Samithi on October 1, which will be inaugurated by Devikulam MLA A Raja.