‘No digital re-survey of land was done in TN border by Kerala’

CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu Revenue Secretary Kumar Jayant on Thursday clarified that the Kerala government did not carry out any digital re-survey of land bordering Tamil Nadu.

"The Theni district Forest officer in his report has stated that no digital re-survey of land near Tamil Nadu border was undertaken by Kerala government. However, the Theni district administration has been directed to closely monitor whether works for undertaking digital re-survey are carried out in the border areas," said the Secretary, in a press communique.

Recently, there were reports that Kerala has planned for digital re-survey of lands and this created furore among farmers and social activists as farmers staged a protest in Theni last week. Political parties too urged the State government to prevent Kerala from undertaking the digital re-survey.

The Secretary said that a Kerala official at the rank of Deputy Director in-charge of undertaking digital re-survey in Thodupuzha has, recently, written a letter to the official of land records department in Theni stating that Kerala government has decided to undertake digital re-survey of land in Chinnakanal, Sadhurangaparai, Karunapuram and Sathanparai villages, which share border with Kerala, and sought land records pertaining to the villages. The Kerala official had also asked the official in Theni to keep the records and to intimate a date for a joint meeting of officials of both the states.

The Secretary further said that the records on Tamil Nadu-Kerala border will be kept ready and the date for a joint meeting will be intimated to the Kerala government by the Theni district administration.