Resentment Over Lakshadweep Development Authority (LDA) Regulation 2021

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The latest draft regulation for the creation of a Lakshadweep Development Authority (LDA) is widely resented by locals in Lakshadweep.

Draft Regulation 

• The regulation empowers the government, identified as the administrator, to constitute Planning and Development Authorities under it to plan the development of any area identified as having “bad layout or obsolete development”.
  • Only cantonment areas are exempted from this.
• Composition: 
  • An authority thus created would be a body corporate with a government-appointed chairman, a town planning officer and three ‘expert’ government nominees besides two local authority representatives.
• Mandate:
  •  These authorities are to prepare land use maps, carry out zonation for the type of land use and indicate areas for ‘proposed national highways, arterial roads, ring roads, major streets, railways, tramways, airports, theatres, museums, playgrounds, stadium.
• Definition of Development: 
  • The draft regulation defines development as the “carrying out of the building, engineering, mining, quarrying or other operations in, on, over or under land, the cutting of a hill or any portion thereof or the making of any material change in any building or land or the use of any building or land.

Issues with the recently created Lakshadweep Development Authority (LDA)

• Usurpation the small holdings of property:
  • The people of Lakshadweep suspect that this might have been issued at the behest of ‘real estate interests’ seeking to usurp the small holdings of property owned by the islanders, a majority of them (94.8% as per the 2011 census) belonging to the Scheduled Tribes.
• Forcible migration:
  • The proposals to bring real estate development concepts such as transferable development rights to the island have raised the hackles of people who fear they would be forced to mass migration. 
  •  The legislation vests such powers with the authority that it can prepare comprehensive development plans for any area and relocate people regardless of their will.
• Heavy Penalties: 
  •  It provides for forcible eviction, puts the onus on the owner to develop his holding as per the plan prepared by the authority and also heavily penalises them in the event of non-compliance. 
• Devastation of their way of life: 
  • The island community is a close-knit group with families living nearby. The regulation will destroy the way of life practised by them for generations.
• Environmental issues: 
  • The draconian regulation is neither ecologically sustainable nor socially viable and the people’s representatives were not consulted before drafting 
• Other Reasons:
  • Introduction of the anti-social Activities Regulation Bill, 2021:
    • The government introduced a draft detention law called the Prevention of Anti-Social Activities, which if implemented can empower the administration to detain anyone without public disclosure for up to one year.
  • Beef Ban:
    • The government also introduced the draft Lakshadweep Animal Preservation Regulation 2021, which if implemented will ban the slaughter of cows, calves of a cow, bulls and bullocks.

Source:TH