Minister visits Pariyathukavu, assures residents of necessary action

Kochi: Govt had to take urgent action to implement the court order related to the eviction at Pariyathukavu colony of Kunnathunad, said minister for scheduled castes, scheduled tribes and backward classes welfare K A Thulasi.The minister was speaking after visiting the area and holding detailed discussions with the families there on Wednesday. Representatives of the colony residents had met the minister at the Secretariat earlier to inform her of the issue.Thulasi assured that the residents’ demand to accurately measure and demarcate the land in the colony would be discussed and examined with revenue department. Necessary follow-up actions will be taken, she said. Had the previous LDF govt, which was in office for the past 10 years, intervened in the initial stages, the issue wouldn't have become so complicated, she added.The dispute arose from a 1984 suit before the munsiff court, Perumbavoor, concerning the ownership of 2.62 acres at Pariyathukavu, which was decreed in favour of the late Sankaran Nair of Kizhakkambalam. Although the defendants — the Dalit families — pursued a series of litigations, the higher courts, including Supreme Court, upheld the decree and judgment. When an eviction attempt was made on May 20, the families, along with certain others, blocked officials and threatened mass suicide, forcing the authorities to withdraw.