GCDA reclaims encroached land at Aluva, Kakkanad.

In what is considered to be the beginning of an elaborate eviction drive, the Greater Cochin Development Authority (GCDA) recently reclaimed two of its encroached land valued at crores of rupees at Aluva and Kakkanad.

Forty cents of prime land valued between ₹20 lakh and ₹30 lakh along the Seaport-Airport Road at Kakkanad was reclaimed by GCDA officials in the afternoon. A boundary stone was erected and a fence was put up, reaffirming the development body’s authority over the property.

“The land was given on lease to Lion’s Club which had refused to vacate it even after the expiry of the lease period a few years ago. The building on the property was also sealed as part of the drive,” a senior GCDA official said. Earlier, a four-and-a-half cents of land encroached on by an individual at Thottakkattukara near Aluva for the past 17 years was also reclaimed. He was running an Ayurvedic medical store on the plot. It was sealed, and contents were handed over to him while a fence was also put up, blocking the entry to the property.

“It was also a prime plot alongside the Periyar and commands a market value between ₹15 lakh and ₹20 lakh. It was evicted on the strength of a court order and another order issued by the District Collector,” said the official. GCDA’s engineering wing is likely to pull down the structures at both places in the coming days.

The GCDA will resume the eviction drive after May 30.

THE HINDU