In a shocking case of bureaucratic fabrication, a special tahsildar in Thiruvananthapuram allegedly sold a public road to the Indian Railways and kept the transaction a secret until his retirement. The incident, uncovered by persistent residents using the Right to Information (RTI) Act, exposes a web of manufactured truths within the state revenue department and leaves a neighborhood without a vital road.
The Manufactured Truth: A Public Road Vanishes
The story centres on Vattavila Suresh Road, a public thoroughfare near the Nemom railway station in the state capital. A special tahsildar, tasked with land acquisition for rail doubling work, identified this road as government property. However, in a critical omission, his office's records conveniently avoided mentioning its nature as a public road.
This manufactured narrative allowed the state government to take over the road and hand it to the Indian Railways. Crucially, the state received over ₹1.15 crore in advance from the railway as compensation for this and other land parcels. By classifying the road as mere 'government land,' the official pre-empted the need for the state to acquire additional land and bear the expense of constructing an alternative road for residents—a cost it is legally obligated to cover.
Residents' Fight and Official Stonewalling
The truth only surfaced when determined neighborhood residents filed back-to-back RTI applications and conducted relentless follow-ups. By then, the railways had already taken possession. The same tahsildar had earlier falsely assured residents that the railways would make necessary arrangements so they wouldn't lose access.
Upon discovery, residents formed an action council and approached Local MLA and Minister V. Sivankutty. He sought a report from the district collector, who, in turn, tasked the special tahsildar's office to investigate itself. The resulting report, obtained by residents, was a masterpiece of obfuscation. It stated that providing an alternative road was the railway's responsibility, as residents had been 'using railway land as a road.' It carefully labelled the 200-meter stretch as railway land, with no mention of the ₹1.15 crore transaction or the state's role in the takeover.
Despite representations to figures from Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnav to Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, MP Shashi Tharoor, and others, the revenue department's fictitious narrative persists. The district collector's report to the Chief Minister's Office (CMO) repeated the falsehood. Shockingly, the CM's grievance redressal cell refused to entertain an appeal, citing a systemic 'loss of trust in citizens.'
Current Danger and Political Promises
The situation on the ground has turned dangerous. The railway authorities have now dug a deep trench along one side of the occupied road, posing a serious risk to the public. Following media reports, BJP state president Rajeev Chandrasekhar has promised to intervene using his connections with the Union government to ensure proper arrangements.
Yet, the core issue remains unaddressed. The simple logic—that the state revenue department which took over the public road must acquire land and provide an alternative—continues to elude the bureaucracy. The lies crafted by the officials remain embedded in government files, and the residents, much like the protagonist in Kafka's 'Before the Law,' find themselves waiting at a gate of justice that seems locked from the inside.
