The Hindu Business Line : Regulatory body mooted for land utilisation in Kerala

Setting up of such an independent authority would go a long way in controlling the menace of the so called ‘land mafia’ which was said to be active in the State of late.

Our Bureau

Kochi, Feb 25 The KSIDC Chairman, Mr P.H. Kurien, has mooted the idea of setting up a regulatory authority to govern land utilisation issues in Kerala on the lines of SEBI.

He was speaking at a panel discussion on the recently issued draft land utilisation policy of the State Government organised by the Kochi based DISA-IDF (Development Initiative for Strategic Advancement-Integrated Development Foundation).

He said that setting up of such an independent authority would go a long way in controlling the menace of the so called ‘land mafia’ which was said to be active in the State of late. Once such a regulatory body was in place it would become mandatory for all the builders to register themselves with the authority leading to greater transparency in real estate business, he added.

Instead of repealing the Land Reforms Act, what needed was permitting land ceiling exemptions for industrial purposes in a transparent manner under Section 81 of the Land Reforms Act 1963. He also called for setting up of integrated townships in rural areas to decongest the already land-starved city areas.

The discussion which was attended by people from industry, real estate sector and academia deliberated at length on issues like land utilisation for agriculture, plantations and tourism.

Most of the speakers felt that the draft of the new land utilization policy of the State Government was not realistic. The draft should have been prepared after proper study of the ground realities.

Some of the suggestions that came up during the discussion included:

(a) Having scientifically planned land zones as industrial, residential, commercial and others.

(b) Having maximum vertical residential facilities than independent houses since the land is not sufficient to provide independent houses for the entire population.

(d) A land utilisation policy which essentially focuses on preservation of earth assets and providing an enabling environment for the people.

Those who took part in the discussions included Mr T.T. Thomas, ex-CMD, FACT; Mr N. Sreekumar, Head of Apollo Tyres, Kerala Operations; Mr S. Gopakumar, Architect; Mr Anil R. Nair, National University of Advanced Legal Studies; Mr N.A. Muhammed Kutty, MD Falcon Infrastructures Ltd; Mr Jose Dominic, MD, CGH Earth Group; Prof Pathiyur Gopinath, Kerala Agriculture University; Dr K.T. Thomson, CUSAT; and Mr B. Mohan Kumar, Kerala Agricultural University.

The recommendations of the discussion will be compiled and presented to the State Government.

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