LOCATED AT the foothills of the Nilgiris in Kerala, Attappady block is known for its agricultural productivity and tribal communities. Data with the Integrated Tribal Development Project (ITDP), shows that the block is home to 33,000 or 6 per cent of the state's tribal population. It is also the only block in Kerala where tribal communities have historically owned land. However, they are now increasingly being labelled as "encroachers" on their land. Many of them are in fact embroiled in legal disputes with non-tribal settlers, primarily from other parts of Kerala and adjoining Tamil Nadu, who claim to have proof of sale deals for the land even though Kerala’s laws prohibit such deals.
One such case is of Nanjiyamma, who earned recognition in July 2022 after winning a National award for her song in the film Ayyappanum Koshiyum. At a time when her family should have been celebrating her win, they were locked in a fight over land rights. Two weeks prior, Palakkad Additional Judicial Magistrate had permitted a petrol pump to be set up on 0.2 hectares (ha) that is part of the land historically owned by Nanjiyamma’s family and under ownership dispute for decades.
In 1962, Nanjiyamma’s father-in-law Nagan leased out 0.5 ha of his total 1.9 ha land to a settler farmer from Tamil Nadu, Mariboyan. That year the government declared Attappady a tribal-dominated block, and in 1975, passed the Kerala Scheduled Tribes (Restriction on Transfer of Lands and Restoration of Alienated Lands) Act, which prohibited sale of tribal land to non-tribals. By then, Mariboyan had allegedly prepared a fake sale deal for the land, leased out to him by Nagan. In 1986, after the rules were framed under the 1975 Act, Nagan tried to get the claims of Mariboyan nullified.
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة April 16, 2023 من Down To Earth.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك ? تسجيل الدخول
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة April 16, 2023 من Down To Earth.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك? تسجيل الدخول
In leading role again
MOVIES AND WEB SERIES ARE ONCE AGAIN BEING SET IN RUSTIC BACKGROUNDS, INDICATING A RECONNECT BETWEEN CINEMA AND THE COUNTRYSIDE
One Nation One Subscription comes at a huge cost
As top US universities scrap big deals with top scientific publishers, India’s ONOS scheme seems flawed and outdated
Return of Rambhog
Bid to revive and sell the aromatic indigenous paddy variety has led to substantial profits for farmers in Uttar Pradesh's Terai region
Scarred by mining
Natural springs of Kashmir drying up due to illegal riverbed mining
Human-to-human spread a mutation away
CANADA IN mid-November confirmed its first human case of avian influenza, with a teenager in the British Columbia being hospitalised after contracting the H5N1 virus that causes the disease. The patient developed a severe form of the disease, also called bird flu, and had respiratory issues. There was no known cause of transmission.
True rehabilitation
Residents of Madhya Pradesh's Kakdi village take relocation as an opportunity to undertake afforestation, develop sustainable practices
INESCAPABLE THREAT
Chemical pollution is the most underrated and underreported risk of the 21st century that threatens all species and regions
THAT NIGHT, 40 YEARS AGO
Bhopal gas disaster is a tragedy that people continue to face
A JOKE, INDEED
A CONFERENCE OF IRRESPONSIBLE PARTIES THAT CREATED AN OPTICAL ILLUSION TO THE REALITY OF A NEW CLIMATE
THINGS FALL APART
THE WORLD HAS MADE PROGRESS IN MITIGATING EMISSIONS AND ADAPTING TO CLIMATE IMPACTS. BUT THE PROGRESS REMAINS GROSSLY INADEQUATE
