Govt revokes temporary ban on land conversion in Kodagu

The state government on Thursday revoked the temporary ban on conversion of land in the flood-hit Kodagu district.

The ban had come into effect after last year's devastating floods washed away large chunks of land in the coffee district.

The Revenue Department on Thursday ordered tahsildars and assistant commissioners to allow conversion of land up to 15 to 20 cents for building houses by the locals after obtaining a ground report.

"Several people have been submitting applications seeking the conversion of land to build houses for a living. But since the floods, the government had ordered temporary ban on conversion of lands for non-agricultural purposes. But keeping in mind the public request, the government has directed to allow conversion of land up to 15 to 20 cents for building houses by the locals.”

The state government while revoking the temporary ban has also laid down certain conditions to prevent damages to the properties in future due to any natural calamity.

As per the conditions, no permission shall be given for construction of buildings in non-stable areas so identified by the Geological Survey of India (GSI) in its report; the buildings shall be at least 10 meters away from the rivers and rivulets and conversion shall not be allowed along the valleys and on those lands which had witnessed landslide in 2018.