By IANS
New Delhi : Kerala Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan Wednesday said the state government would go ahead with its move to acquire 50,000 acres of land allegedly encroached by the Tata group in the hill town of Munnar.
Achuthanandan, whose Left Democratic Front (LDF) government has launched an eviction drive against the encroachers in the state, said the previous Congress-led government did not do anything to retrieve the encroached land though two assurance committees had found the land acquisition by the Tata group illegal.
"Tata Tea officials have now claimed that the recovered property belonged to the Forest Department. If so, why was there a board put up by the Tatas on that land?" Achuthanandan told reporters here.
Achuthanandan was here leading an all-party delegation that met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in the evening and sought the central aid in meeting the calamitous situation arising out of the southwest monsoon in the state.
A Special Task Force formed by the state government had Tuesday recovered 1,300 acres of land purportedly owned by Tata Tea in Namakkaal, Munnar. The state government maintains the land is in excess of what is allowed under laws.
Leader of Opposition Oommen Chandy, also part of the delegation, said the opposition parties will support the government's move against Tata Tea if the firm had acquired the land illegally.
Achuthanandan said his Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) led government would initiate action against K. Venugopal, general manager of the party's Malayalam language mouthpiece Deshabhimani, who had been expelled from the party following the allegation that he had accepted Rs.100 million as bribe from a tainted businessman to help hush up cases against him.