'Bekal project termed a flop' - The Hindu

 

The Bekal Special Tourism Area could not achieve its aims after being in implementation for 20 years, the report of a fact-finding mission taken up by various non-governmental organisations (NGOs) has said. The initiative was spearheaded by the Wayanad-based Kabani and the Alappuzha-based Gandhi Smaraka Grama Seva Kendra.

The report, released here recently, pointed out that the intervention of Bekal Resorts Development Corporation Ltd. (BRDC) to develop Bekal as a special tourism area, declared so by the Centre in 1992, had failed in bringing forth any developmental advantage to the region. The situation instead was that ‘those who were responsible to work for the people had displaced hundreds from their homes in the name of development,’ the report said.

The report also pointed out that the mission team came across people who were forced to live in under-developed areas forced upon them by agencies like BRDC, giving up their land, their hereditary possessions, culture, and even traditional occupations. They were also being forced to be at the receiving end of the harmful effects of garbage thrown out by private resorts. This was when most of the promises that were doled out to them, including jobs, still remained on paper.

On the other hand, the so-called development had seen silence on part of the government towards the blatant violation of Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) laws and Panchayati Raj laws and umpteen other violations of environmental norms. 

The project had entailed 14 resorts, but there were only six now. The 3,000 resort units that were intended in the project plan had been curtailed to 500 units. To be submitted to the government, the report demanded that the anti-people interventions by the BRDC and the resorts be stopped immediately.

The mission team comprised P.A. Pouran and Mohanan of the People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL); Geo Jose of the National Alliance for People’s Movements (NAPM); K.G. Jagadeeshan of the Gandhi Smaraka Grama Seva Kendra; former Joint Director of Fisheries Raveendran Nair; former Additional Director of Fisheries Sanjeev Ghosh; Maglene Peter of the Theeradesha Mahila Vedi; Sumesh Mangalasseri of Kabani; Robin of Keraleeyam; Sudheer of the Kasaragod Environment Council; K.P. Sashi (Visual Search); and researcher Rekha Raj.

http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-kerala/article3660528.ece