Minister issues order to close down illegal pig farms in Poovachal at district adalat

Closure of illegal pig farms in Poovachal panchayat ordered by Minister following complaints; other grievances addressed at adalat.

Orders have been issued for the closing down of the illegal pig farms in Poovachal panchayat following complaints from the local population. This was one of the 1,141 complaints out of a total of 1,283 which were favourably disposed of at the district-level adalat of the Local Self-Governments department (LSGD) held here on Wednesday. A total of 142 complaints were rejected.

Minister for Local Self-Governments M.B. Rajesh ordered the closure of the pig farms based on a complaint from the Poovachal Janakeeya Samarasamithi, which alleged that the farms have been causing health and environmental issues. The Minister directed the Poovachal panchayat to close the farm.

Among the general decisions announced by the Minister, based on complaints received at the adalat, is the decision to allow commercial establishments which have been functioning even before the current Building Rules came into existence to renew their licenses. Many shop owners have been unable to renew their licenses due to lack of proper provisions in the law. The decision was taken in a complaint filed by Attingal native B.S. Ashwini.

Regarding houses constructed under the State government’s LIFE housing project, beneficiaries will now be able to get the final instalment of payment even if the building is marked as unauthorised and given a ‘UA’ number. At present, owners of houses which have a valid house number could get the final instalment of LIFE scheme payments. The decision was taken based on a complaint from Mangalapuram natives Stanley and Jessy Stanley. The Minister also ordered that building permits should not be denied to LIFE-PMAY scheme beneficiaries over not having a National Highway access permission.

For Sheela from Mangalapuram, the adalat came as a solace, following an order to the panchayat to purchase inhabitable land for her. She has been struggling for the past nine years as the land purchased by the panchayat was not suitable to construct a house. The Minister also ordered the allocation of numbers to buildings owned by Vamanapuram native Vipin Das and Vilavoorkal native Prakashan. They were being denied building numbers based on a technicality regarding the width of the pathway to the buildings. The Minister also ordered the officials to amend the relevant section regarding this in the rule.