Kasaragod: This 700-sq-ft blue house in the middle of a three-acre rubber estate at Ayarott does not exist, officially. Kasaragod's Kodom-Belur grama panchayat clerically demolished the house, built in 2006, at least three years ago.
Instead of correcting the mistake, panchayat secretary Joseph Muttathu and panchayat president Sreeja P have put forward a torturous solution. They have asked Kochu Theresa (45), a widow and nurse in the UK, to submit an application for a house number with a new building plan prepared by a licenced engineer, a building completion certificate, a copy of the engineer's licence, possession certificate, land tax receipt, house tax receipt. The list may not be exhaustive.
"For three years I have been after this. Every vacation, I come and meet the officials and panchayat members to push my case. But the officials would not budge," said Theresa.
Her ordeal started in 2021 when her ageing father-in-law decided to transfer the property and the house to Therisa's 13-year-old son.
Theresa and her late husband Benoy George (46) of Kottayam's Kaduthuruthy -- both nurses -- always wanted to quit the profession and become farmers. In 2012, they bought three acres and five cents with the house at Ayarott, a hill-locked land at Kasaragod's Kodom-Belur panchayat. "Back then we had money only for one acre. So our chachan (father-in-law) pitched in," said Theresa. The couple registered the properties in the name of George Ulhannan, Benoy's father.
From 2012 to 2016, the couple lived in the house with their son and daughter, who are now 13 and 10 years old. "When we bought the house it was only six years old," she said. Now the house is 17 years old.
But their farmer dreams crumbled when rubber prices crashed to Rs 100 per kg in 2016.
By 2017, they got back to being nurses. They restarted from a hospital in Indore, moved to Kolkata, and then landed themselves better-paying jobs in Saudi Arabia.
Disaster struck the family when Benoy George fell ill and died of a massive heart attack on March 30, 2021. But unknown to Therisa, the CPM-controlled Kodom-Belur panchayat had also prepared a cruel long-drawn game for her.
After her husband's death, Theresa and her two children moved to Benoy's parents' house in Kaduthuruthy. Her father-in-law Ulhannan, who is 80 years old, said he wanted to transfer the property to his grandson's name.
Sometime in March 2022, Theresa came to Kasaragod to initiate the process of property transfer. The registration department officials told her to get land tax and house tax receipts and possession certificates.
Theresa paid the land tax at an Akshaya e-centre, the government common service centre. But when she tried to pay the tax for her house (no. 183), the Akshaya executive told her the house does not exist.
She knew it must be a clerical mistake and so she went to the Kodom-Belur grama panchayat office. "The panchayat officials told me that the house had been demolished because it was dilapidated," she said. They showed her the computer screen of the government portal. 'Demolished' says the entry against house no. 183.
That was in March 2022. By May, she got a job in a hospital in Norfolk, a rural county 175 km north of London, and she left Kerala, leaving behind the children under the care of their paternal grandparents.
In November, Theresa came home for a short vacation and made time to come to Kasaragod. "I took up the matter with my panchayat ward member and the panchayat officials," she said.
The officials first said they were not aware of how such an error could happen. Then, they agreed to conduct a site visit. "But they did not have time that day. They came after two days and saw the house there," she said.
After the field visit, the panchayat officials agreed it was a mistake but blamed it on officials who served before their arrival.
The panchayat president Sreeja and panchayat secretary Joseph Muttathu proposed a solution. "That I should submit a new building plan for a new building permit, and after which I should submit a completion certificate and apply for a house number," she said.
But Theresa was not in the mood for that. "It is not a mistake I committed. The officials agreed it was a mistake. They should resolve it," she said.
After 20 days, she returned to Norfolk. On May 23, 2023, she came for another short vacation. "I came for my daughter's First Communion. It is on June 16," she said.
But after landing in Kochi at 1.30 pm, she dropped her luggage at Kaduthuruthy and took a bus to Kasaragod the same day.
This time, she met the panchayat's vice-president P Damodharan. "He took me to the secretary and assured me of all help," said Theresa. But after two weeks she returned to Kottayam, dejected.
Ayarott ward member Bindu Krishnan said she took up the matter with the president and panchayat secretary. "But they want her to submit a new building plan," she said.
Panchayat president Sreeja first said she did not know the details of the issue. When reminded that the ward member had brought it to her notice, she said it was a mistake. "But she will have to do what the secretary says to resolve the issue," she said.
When asked if the mistake cannot be rectified if the panchayat board passed a resolution, she said: "It is a legal matter and I cannot comment on it without consulting others," she said. To be sure, Theresa has been following it up for three years. Fourteen of the 19 members of the panchayat board belong to the LDF.
Panchayat secretary Joseph Muttathu said the services of the government have been digitised and so would need documents to make any entry. "In this case, she should either produce her old building tax receipt and file an application to revive her old house number or submit a new building plan," he said.
But reviving the old number would not be easy because the house might have been renovated or modified, he assumed. "If the house number was initially given for a tiled-roof house and now has a concrete roof, we cannot clear her application," he said. That's why he asked her to submit a new building plan. "If she cooperates, it can be resolved," said the secretary.
Theresa said she was never given the first option which the secretary told Onmanorama.
When Onmanorama visited Ayarott, it found the ruins of a house built with mud bricks next to Theresa's house. The house belonged to one Molly. Though she moved out three years ago she can still pay the house tax for the ruins. Its house number 184 is still active.
