Food safety department's office plan caught in legal dispute

KOCHI: The food safety department's plan to construct a new office building in Kothamangalam to seat the circle officers of Kothamangalam and Muvattupuzha seems to have hit a roadblock, with the grandson of the person who reportedly handed over the land to the health department in 1960 making a claim on the land. The department claimed that the disputed 15 cents of land were handed over to the health department to set up a family welfare centre and the PWD even built a building for the centre in the property. But with the upgrading of Kothamangalam panchayat to municipality in 1978 the centre was closed down. Later the building was used as food inspector's office and the office functioned from the building for more than 10 years. As the building was not in a good condition, the food inspector's office was shifted to the Muvattupuzha taluk hospital temporarily in 2005. With the implementation of the Food Safety and Standards Act, the food safety department made plans to set up a building in the land for its Kothamangalam and Muvattupuzha circle offices. "The encroachment took place in October this year. The department was planning to construct a building in the property. The PWD has already prepared a project for it which is under consideration of the state government," said C Benny, food safety officer, Kothamangalam. He added that as per the records of the municipality the property belonged to health department and it has been paying tax for it. The food safety department said that it had already brought the issue to the attention of the district collector and district medical officer.
The additional district medical officer, Dr Suhitha K, visited the spot last week as part of the investigation conducted by the health department. Ernakulam district collector Sheik Pareeth said he has called a hearing to solve the issue. "The resurvey of the land would be done to confirm whether there was any encroachment," he said. Meanwhile, Dr Arun Jose Abraham -- who has approached the Muvattupuzha court claiming that the land belongs to him -- said, "I inherited the land from my father and have all the documents to prove my ownership. I have been paying tax for the land since I inherited it."
He said the health centre was allowed to function in their ancestral home on humanitarian grounds.Source:http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com