The controversial land purchase made by ISRO for setting up the Space Technology Institute rocked the Kerala Assembly on Tuesday, with the Opposition UDF staging a walkout over the issue.

The ISRO had purchased 82 acres of land at Ponmudi, over 60 km from here, from businessman and film producer Xavy Mano Mathew,  who is close to politicians of various hues.

The 82 acres was part of the 707.23-acre Merchiston Tea Estate originally owned by the British, which later changed hands to the Birla group and subsequently others.

Ecological issues
The deal has now been questioned by the Forest Department, which says the land was notified as ecologically fragile and is yet to be denotified.

Forest Minister Benoy Viswam says Mr Mathew and the ISRO entered into the deal without the knowledge of the state government.

However, the Congress-led UDF alleges that the minister himself had a role to play in facilitating the transfer of land.

“This is one of the biggest land scams to ever hit Kerala. Crores of rupees have passed through numerous hands. We want a CBI inquiry into the deal. If anything shady had happened during our regime, let that also come out,’’ thundered Opposition leader Oommen Chandy.

He alleged that Forest Minister Benoy Viswam and Labour Minister P K Gurudasan had met Mr Mathew on May 16 to finalise the sale.

What has added a new dimension to the controversy is the ongoing construction of a helipad at Ponmudi for what is being touted as the Prime Minister’s visit to lay the foundation stone. Bulldozers and JCBs have been working overtime at the forest land, to build the helipad on reportedly the chief secretary’s direction.

Meeting on Sept 6
However, neither the ISRO nor the state government has any confirmation on the visit.
The minister said that he would reveal all aspects of the deal at the high-level meeting convened by the chief minister on September 6.

Chief Minister V S Achuthanandan told the Assembly that he was still looking into the issue and that had called a meeting with officials and the ISRO team on Thursday, to decide on what is needed to be done.

It may be recalled that ISRO chairman G Madhavan Nair had last week met the Forest Minister here, following the outbreak of the controversy and the Minister’s letter to him.