Moolampilly Day: 41 lost lives and 18 years later, justice remains a distant dream for evictees

The alleged official apathy towards implementing the rehabilitation package for the families evicted for the rail and road connectivity of the Vallarpadam International Container Transshipment Terminal has left them in despair, as no protest was held on Friday to mark the anniversary of their eviction, possibly a first since their eviction 18 years ago.

Of the 316 families displaced from seven villages, 10 were forcefully evicted and their homes razed on February 6, 2008, a day since then observed annually as Moolampilly Day. Over the years, the day has been marked with protests organised under the aegis of the Moolampilly Coordination Committee (MCC), which spearheads the fight for fair rehabilitation and compensation.

“The absence of political will seems to have emboldened continuing official indifference to the plight of evictees. Even the Moolampilly Package Monitoring Committee (MPMC), chaired by the District Collector and meant to oversee the implementation of the rehabilitation package and hold monthly reviews, has not met for nearly six months. So far, 41 evictees have died without enjoying the fruits of rehabilitation,” said Francis Kalathungal, general convener of MCC.

Not even the minutes of the last MPMC meeting held on August 22, 2025, have been issued, nor have the decisions taken at the meeting been implemented. It was decided that the Deputy Collector for land revenue will preside over monthly meetings, considering the Collector’s busy schedule. However, no meeting has been held since then. The Deputy Collector could not be reached despite repeated attempts.

“Photo-affixed evictee cards, a long-standing demand conceded as far back as 2018, remain unissued despite MCC providing the beneficiary list. Likewise, the proposal to deposit soil dredged by the Cochin Port Authority (CPA), currently dumped in the outer sea, to shore up rehabilitation plots in Thuthiyoor and Mulavukad has not been implemented. In fact, soil has instead been diverted to national highway works since we made such a proposal,” Mr. Kalathungal added.

High Court order

The Kerala High Court, in an interim verdict on a petition by 56 families allotted plots at Adarsh Nagar in Thuthiyoor, had directed that the site be properly filled and a retaining wall built to fortify the plot. While the retaining wall has been completed, land filling remains undone, and only three families have managed to build houses there.

Going further back, the High Court in its July 4, 2008 verdict directed that rehabilitation plots should be suitable for two-storied houses and, until then, beneficiaries be paid monthly rent of ₹5,000. Both directions remain violated. Most families could not build houses owing to the marshy nature of the plots, a fact confirmed by the Public Works department, while the payment of rent ceased years ago.