Justice at last for Moolampilly evictees

KOCHI: Eighty-two-year-old P J Selestin broke down as he received the cheque for Rs 1.35 lakh from Chief Minister Oommen Chandy at the Moolampilly Parish Hall on Thursday. For, neither he, nor the 325 other families evicted for the ICTT project were expecting such a  speedy redressal of their more  than three-year-old issue  of compensation and rehabilitation. Selestin could well be called as the symbol of the state-sponsored terrorism which unfolded at Moolampilly in Ernakulam on February 6, 2008. In a sudden move, the police along with the district administration officials forcibly evicted people from their houses. Buildings were demolished using cranes by creating a war-like situation. Selestin  is one of the 326 families evicted for the road connectivity project for the International Container Transshipment Terminal (ICTT) at Vallarpadom.Residents of seven villages - Kadamakkudy, Mulavukad, Cheranalloor, Eloor, Edappally North, Edappally South and Kadungalloor - were evicted for the project. However forcible eviction was carried out only at Moolampilly. Later the evictees started running from pillar to post to get their compensation from the government. It was only after a long time, even after the High Court intervention that the government came up with the Moolampilly package. Though the package was announced it got entangled in legal issues as 27 families approached the court. Among the evictees those with five cents of land were given five cents as part of the rehabilitation package while those with more than five cents of land in their possession were given six cents as compensation. Selestin, who originally had 79 cents of land at Kadamakkudy, was given only 6 cents. There were still issues with title deeds. The previous LDF Government was not ready to issue title deeds to the 27 families who approached the court.  However, the new government decided to issue land deeds to all these people provided they agree to withdraw the cases. On Thursday, Selestin and Subhadra Parameswaran of Moolampilly were given title deeds by the Chief Minister.