Save Munnar Campaign

Munnar, Keralas famed hill station, is in the grip of a land mafia which enjoys the protection of powerful political parties and some social and religious organizations. So extensive is the depredation that has taken place there that the Kerala High Court, in a judgment, characterized it as gang-rape of Mother Nature.

Delivering judgment on a public interest litigation filed by One Earth One Life, an environmental rights group, on January 21, 201o, the court ordered the State governments to take immediate steps to halt all illegal constructions there and take action against officials who had failed to act upon various reports which threw light on the encroachments.

In 2007, the State government, at the initiative of the Chief Minister, had sent a team of officials to evict the illegal encroachers in Munnar. The move was thwarted by leaders of his own party and other constituents of the ruling Left Democratic Front, who were among those who were found to have encroached upon government or forest lands.

These parties have come out openly against any new government steps against encroachments on the basis of the High Court judgment. They have also mobilized the support of several community organizations whose members too figure in the list of encroachers. The State Revenue Ministers website acknowledges the gravity of the situation in Munnar. It says, There are mafia groups in different parts of the State ready to grab land even in very sensitive and fragile regions, endangering the very existence of the people of this State. Munnar has been one of the hotsports of land grabbing. There had been landslides in the region in recent years. The present rate of encroachments and illegal constructions on these hills were feared to cause natural disasters there.

In these circumstances, it is necessary to mobilize public opinion not only in Kerala but at national and international level to secure early implementation of the court directive.

We demand that the High Court take note of the concerted drive by powerful elements to prevent any governmental action and appoint a Monitoring Committee, which will directly report to it, to oversee the implementation of its directives.

We appeal to all those who are concerned over the wanton destruction of the fragile ecological base of the Western Ghats to demonstrate their support for the One Earth One Life initiative by joining the Save Munnar Campaign.

Kindly register your personal support by signing this online petition.