KOCHI: About an acre of government land that lies abandoned at Moulana Azad Road, Mattancherry has turned into a haven for anti-social activities. Thanks to the apathy of the authorities, the presence of anti-social elements is creating trouble for the locals. There are about 25 families who live around it. Though this property is fenced off, there have been several incidents where the locals have seen miscreants scaling the wall to hide stolen properties. The locals complain that they are scared as their children always play around the area. “We are living in constant fear. The area is a bit cloistered as it lies with the above mentioned property on one side and a library on the other and there is just a narrow lane that leads the area. As we have to leave early in the morning, only the women are left in the houses till we come back. It is scary as we have seen anti-social activities taking place in broad day light inside a shed within the abandoned property, said K B Ashraff, whose house lies close to the property.“The plot can be seen clearly from my terrace and I have seen men in their twenties using whiteners and drugs. How can we leave our little children in the open, when such things are happening in the neighbourhood,” asked M H Shajahan. Based on the information given by the sources in Zilla Sainik Welfare Office, Kakkanad, the plot was intended to help ex service men and was under the Amalgamated Welfare Fund, chaired by the Governor. Earlier, it was under a society called Ex-servicemen Cooperative Society who were managing the activities. The society also operated some passenger buses. But with the passage of time it started running on loss and had to be closed down. Some time ago, High Court had intervened and appointed an arbitrator who gave the land on lease to run a garage. But when he was asked to give back the land, he lodged a complaint in the court. Owing to the complication that later occurred, the land was completely brought under the state government.When contacted, Zilla Sainik Welfare Officer, P J Jacob who is also in charge of the property said, “We cleaned the place four months back. When we learnt that the sheds were being misused, we took necessary steps to stop it. The walls which had partially collapsed have been repaired. We will once again clean it, once the rain subsides.” He added that the allocation of fund to maintain this property has been a great problem.
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