V S Achuthanandan unhappy with govt’s stand in Munnar issue

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Expressing his dissent over the manner in which the LDF government has been handling the Munnar encroachment issue, former CM and administrative reforms commission chairman V S Achuthanandan said the front should keep its election promise that not an inch of government land would be allowed to be encroached.
“The high court in November 2016 ordered to demolish illegal constructions in Munnar.The recent report of assembly committee also made a recommendation in this regard. The government has taken a strong stand against encroachment, but encroachers and their agents have been posing a hurdle,” the CPM leader told a news conference on Tuesday.
When asked about Devikulam MLA S Rajendran’s stand against the officials who have taken strong steps to curb encroachments and power minister M M Mani who had threatened the officials in the past, Achuthanandan hinted that they might be part of the encroachers’ group.
In an indirect reply to the remarks made by chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Monday, he said tourists come to Munnar not to stay in resorts, but to enjoy the beauty of the place. Vijayan had said resorts needed to be constructed at Munnar in proportion to the tourist inflow to the hill town.
Meanwhile, Mani, who reacted angrily to Achuthanandan’s statement, said, “I doubt whether he had properly studied the issue in Munnar.” Mani, who was a confidant of Achuthanandan, left the veteran’s camp following the latter’s 2007 Munnar operation in which several encroachments were cleared.