Why over 250 landless beneficiaries of Kerala’s Arippa Bhoosamaram are trapped in bureaucratic deadlock
For more than a decade, over 250 landless families of the Arippa Bhoosamaram in Kerala slept under plastic tarps and wooden sheds, dreaming of the
For more than a decade, over 250 landless families of the Arippa Bhoosamaram in Kerala slept under plastic tarps and wooden sheds, dreaming of the day they could finally call a piece of land their own. Finally that moment arrived in February 2026 with the distribution of official title deeds, but their relief was abruptly cut short when they found themselves trapped in a jurisdictional tug-of-war between the Revenue and Forest Departments. The conflict erupted after the Forest Department issued a stop memo halting the felling of trees on the newly allocated plots, plunging the beneficiaries into complete legal uncertainty over their property rights. The root of the issue lies in the alleged failure of inter-departmental coordination, with the Forest Department maintaining that the land in question was originally primary forest land. According to forest officials, while the Revenue Department claims the land was transferred to them years ago, no valid documentation or survey sketches were shared to verify or demarcate the boundaries on the ground.
“Crucially, the Revenue Department issued the title deeds without obtaining a mandatory No Objection Certificate (NOC) from the Forest Department. We have currently halted the activity in connection with tree felling. The title deeds were distributed without informing the Forest Department. Therefore, the ultimate responsibility to explain what kind of title deed this is lies with the Revenue Department,” said a senior Forest official. The official further pointed out that the unilateral allocation might violate Central statutory frameworks. “These title deeds are actually invalid. Since the Forest Conservation Act of 1980 is in place, if the land they distributed is forest land, it must be applied for and processed through the Central government’s online single-window portal, PARIVESH. All title deeds issued otherwise will be treated as invalid. But there won’t be an issue once the Revenue Department provides us with clarity on this,” the forest official added. While residential rubber trees have been cleared, forest officials have marked over 800 indigenous forest trees on the land for protection until official joint surveys clarify its legal status.
This inter-departmental deadlock has severely disrupted the lives of the beneficiaries, who now find themselves unable to utilise their land or access basic amenities. Sreeraman Koyyon, president of the Adivasi Dalit Munnetta Samiti (ADMS), the collective that led the Arippa land struggle, says the families have been pushed into a fresh crisis. “When people who received the title deeds applied for the possession certificate, authorities refused to issue it. Under standard procedure, the department is expected to grant possession certificates once land tax has been paid on a property. However, officials at the Kulathupuzha panchayat said that all applications remain on hold until the ongoing ownership dispute between the Revenue and Forest departments is resolved,” he says. The denial of basic utility connections has further aggravated the plight of the residents, particularly the elderly. “Vayojana Commission (Kerala State Elderly Commission) had visited the place following a complaint we submitted. Since there are many elderly persons, the commission directed the panchayat to allot house numbers to their sheds so they could secure electricity connections.
The BriefWire