World · India Bureau
Kerala land lease row: 3,500 hectares allotted without tenure clarity
Right to Information disclosures have exposed decades-old land allotments in Kerala's Chalakudy Forest Division to private plantation firms without clearly defined lease terms. The revelations raise fresh concerns about forest land management and corporate agreements in the state.
LSN India ·
Records accessed through Right to Information requests have revealed that over 3,500 hectares of land in the Chalakudy Forest Division have been leased to Harrison Malayalam and Cochin Malabar Estates without specified tenure periods, according to documents spanning more than a century of transactions.
The allotments, with some dating back to 1911, highlight longstanding practices in Kerala's forest administration that lack transparent lease agreements and clear termination dates. The disclosures have reignited debate over how state forest resources have been distributed to private entities and the adequacy of oversight mechanisms governing such arrangements.
Among the cases highlighted are the Plantation Corporation's 4,261-hectare lease, which expired in 2017, raising questions about land status and management following the lease termination. The absence of specified tenure conditions has complicated efforts to track land usage and enforce compliance with forestry regulations.
The RTI revelations come amid growing scrutiny of forest land governance in Kerala, where environmental groups and activists have questioned the sustainability and legality of long-term private leases in protected forest areas. Officials have not yet responded to requests for clarification on the renewal status of expired leases or plans to reclaim unutilized forest lands.