By IANS
Thiruvananthapuram : It is now uncertain whether a space institute of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) will actually come up on a plot in the Ponmudi hill station of Kerala, with a minister Thursday calling the land deal shady.
“It is now clear that the individual who sold the land to ISRO was shady, but the Kerala government is clear that it will go ahead with the proposed institute, clearing all the issues that have cropped up,” Forest Minister Binoy Viswam told reporters.
He said this in the presence of ISRO chairman G. Madhavan Nair here.
The two had closed-door discussions after news reports said that a portion of the land at Ponmudi in Thiruvananthapuram district that was sold to ISRO this year belonged to the forest department and was categorised as ecologically fragile.
Viswam had written a strongly worded letter to the ISRO authorities last week seeking all records of the 82 acres of land, which it had purchased from one Savy Mano Mathew.
Mathew had purchased 707 acres of land in Ponmudi from the Birla Group in 2005 at a throwaway price. He entered into a deal with ISRO early this year for the transfer of around 120 acres of land, and in the first phase 82 acres of land was given.
Ponmudi is located around 80 km from here.
“ISRO had made inquiries. We do not think that we were cheated in the deal, but with regard to the real ownership of the land, we are still vetting the documents,” Nair told reporters.
Nair also said the proposed institute, which would be of world-class standards, should not be lost on account of a controversy.
“From Sep 14, classes will begin from the campus of the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (ISRO’s main centre in Thiruvananthapuram). In two years time we will move out to our own campus,” he said.
After the controversy, both Viswam and Nair are not sure if the campus will come up on the proposed land.
“We are also on the lookout for other suitable land. At the moment we cannot commit if it will come up in Ponmudi,” said Viswam.