In a shocking case of administrative fabrication, a special tahsildar in Thiruvananthapuram orchestrated the sale of a public road to the Indian Railways, collecting over Rs 1 crore for the state government while leaving local residents without access. The incident, centered around Vattavila Suresh Road near Nemom railway station, exposes a deep-seated culture of manufactured truths within the state revenue department.
The Manufactured Truth: How a Public Road Disappeared
The special tahsildar was in charge of land acquisition for a rail doubling project. In this role, his office was responsible for taking over both public and private properties on behalf of the Kerala government and transferring them to the railways. The state received an advance compensation exceeding Rs 1 crore from the Indian Railways for these land parcels.
However, in a move that defies logic, the official identified the public road—Vattavila Suresh Road—as government property but deliberately omitted its crucial status as a public thoroughfare in the records. This act of omission effectively sold off a road used by the community for decades. It also preempted the need for the state government to acquire additional land and bear the expense of constructing an alternative road for residents, a statutory responsibility.
The truth remained buried until persistent residents, through back-to-back RTI applications and relentless follow-ups, unearthed the land acquisition details. By then, the railways had already taken possession of the road.
A Trail of False Assurances and Bureaucratic Echoes
Prior to the exposure, the special tahsildar had falsely assured residents that the railways had agreed to make necessary arrangements so they would not lose the road. This claim was accepted by local residents' associations. Meanwhile, local politicians distanced themselves, viewing it as a railway matter.
When residents, forced to form an action council, approached Local MLA and Minister V Sivankutty, he sought a report from the district collector. The collector then tasked the very same special tahsildar's office to investigate. The resulting report, obtained by residents, was a masterpiece of obfuscation.
It stated that the railway was responsible for providing an alternative road since residents had been "using railway land as a road." It carefully labeled the 200-meter stretch as railway land, avoiding any mention that it was a corporation road taken over and sold by the state for Rs 1.15 crore. This fictitious narrative, created by the now-retired official, continues to be parroted by his office and was even repeated in the district collector's report to the Chief Minister's Office (CMO).
Justice Locked Out: A Kafkaesque Wait Continues
Residents have submitted representations to a host of authorities, from Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw to Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, Minister Sivankutty, and Thiruvananthapuram MP Shashi Tharoor. They have met numerous revenue officials to explain the simple flaw in the official stance: the entity that takes over a public road (the state revenue department) is responsible for providing an alternative.
Their objections have fallen on deaf ears. In a stunning admission of systemic failure, the CM's grievance redressal cell refused to entertain their appeal, citing a loss of trust in citizens. The immediate danger has escalated, with the railways digging a deep trench along the possessed road, posing a safety risk.
Following media reports, BJP state president Rajeev Chandrasekhar has promised to intervene using his connections with the Union government. Yet, the manufactured lies in government reports remain uncorrected. The residents' plight mirrors the hapless villager in Franz Kafka's 'Before the Law,' waiting endlessly at a gate of justice that seems permanently locked from the inside. Their fight for a simple alternative road continues, a stark testament to the stranger-than-fiction realities of bureaucratic power.
