Munnar Demolished?
The state government said that a master plan to turn Munnar into planned tourist destination will soon be ready, and the tourist activities in the hill station will be run. by the state government, Thursday.304 acres of land that was seized by the state will be used for tourism activities and would be run by the government,' Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan told reporters after leading a sub-committee of his cabinet here to discuss the issue of distributing land to the landless.

In March last year Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan gave orders to seize the land that was encroached upon by the tourism mafia in Munnar. In the operations that were launched last year, by now in Idukki district the state seized 16,000 acres. The state has decided to hand over 1,662 acres of land in Munnar to the landless, which includes adivasis (tribal), plantation workers and others. This land would be distributed in three months' time. For this extra officials will be deputed and the land will be distributed in phases.

Munnar is a picturesque hill station bordering Tamil Nadu. Over the years on account of the huge arrival of tourists into Munnar, various resorts had flourished here which has led to large-scale environment problems. In the operations launched in Munnar since March last year, more than a dozen plush resorts have been razed and reports indicate that four dozen more resorts would be razed soon. There will be five more special squads formed to speed up the cases against the encroachers.

The land where the buildings were demolished will be used again by building another structure, which means unnecessary destruction and wastage of money. This messy situation will continue for a long time as our state is going to implement the tourism plans.

Munnar…..Get Well Sooon

Shinto Varghese