By The Hindu Bureau
Copyright thehindu
With applications piling up, a large number of property owners in the city are still waiting to get their land converted as dry land (purayidam). Nearly 16,000 applications from Kanayannur taluk, which includes core urban areas of Kochi, remain pending with many of them at various stages of the process.
Of the 29,687 applications received from landholders in the taluk till mid-September, nearly 14,000 have been settled, the authorities from the Revenue department said. The processing of applications received since January this year was yet to start, they added.
Kanayannur taluk covers key local bodies, including Kochi Corporation, the municipalities of Thrikkakara, Thripunithura, and Kalamassery, as well as a few grama panchayats in the city suburbs. The Deputy Collector (Revenue Recovery) has been assigned to decide on the land conversion applications from the taluk. Though the Fort Kochi Sub-Collector was initially designated to handle such applications in the district, the work was divided last year among three deputy collectors and the Muvattupuzha Revenue Divisional Officer (RDO) to streamline the process.
The authorities said the urban nature of the taluk, with a large number of small landholdings—many of which are on reclaimed land—was the primary reason for the high number of applications from the region. “Roughly 85% of the applications are for landholdings below 25 cents. The rush for land conversion is natural because landowners can use their property for residential, commercial or industrial purposes, or even avail a bank loan, only after ensuring the land falls under the dry land category in the records,” an official from the Revenue department said.
The official added that the applications pending for decision include those awaiting reports from the respective village officers and those requiring submission of necessary documents, including land sketches. “In certain cases, site inspections have to be conducted for verification. There are also instances where the authorities must obtain satellite images and reports from the Kerala State Remote Sensing and Environment Centre to verify the land category,” the officials pointed out.
Deputy Collector (Revenue Recovery) V. E. Abbas, who has been assigned Kanayannur taluk for land conversion, said the large volume of applications was the primary reason many cases remain pending. “We have been handling as many applications as possible on a daily basis, and our teams have been given deadlines to process them,” he added.
