Thiruvananthapuram: The state government has taken steps to reclaim land that the opposition parties say was involved in a controversial deal involving the country's top space agency.
The land, which is part of Merchiston estate in the tourist spot of Ponmudi in Thiruvananthapuram district, was "bought" by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) to set up a space technology institute.
The opposition United Democratic Front (UDF) has demanded a probe into the sale of the land by the estate owner Xavi Mano Mathew.
The forest department yesterday issued notice to the "owners" to leave the estate within 30 days.
Helipad
It is also learnt that the authorities have issued notice to ISRO for attempting to build a helipad on the controversial land.
The UDF had alleged that the land sale was dubious, arguing the land had been declared a vested forest and notified as ecologically fragile and therefore could not have been sold to the ISRO.
The opposition had also demanded that forest minister Binoy Viswom be removed from his post so that the investigation would not be influenced by him.
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