Private companies hold leases for 3,500 hectares of land without expiry dates
Records released under the RTI Act show Harrison Malayalam Limited and Cochin Malabar Estates hold land in the Chalakudy Forest Division.
More than 3,500 hectares of land under the Chalakudy Forest Division have been leased to private plantation companies without specified expiry dates, according to The Hindu.
Official records released under the Right to Information (RTI) Act show that Harrison Malayalam Limited was allotted 2,453.73 hectares for rubber cultivation in 1911.
Cochin Malabar Estates was also granted 1,080.9632 hectares for rubber plantations in 1911, according to the documents provided by State Public Information Officer and Senior Superintendent Shijo C. Kurian.
The two companies together hold 3,534.6932 hectares of leased land, with the records failing to mention when these leases end.
The disclosures, which came following an application by Kakkanad resident Raju Vazhakkala, also noted that the Plantation Corporation of Kerala held 4,261.048 hectares for rubber and cashew plantations.
That specific lease, which began in 1967, concluded in 2017. Other records list land allotments for a settlement colony, a tribal school, and various infrastructure projects.