K. Rajesh Kannan, the Advocate Commissioner appointed by the Kerala High Court, on Friday began verifying the licences of the commercial establishments functioning in the Panampilly Nagar residential area to find out whether the licences had been issued in violation of the High Court’s earlier interim order.
He inspected as many as 50 establishments. It would take a week to complete the process. The court had also directed the Commissioner to verify whether any garages meant for parking had been leased out and assigned door numbers. The court issued the order on a writ petition filed by Shobha Ramachandran and other residents in the area. The court had earlier ordered that no applicant for new licence shall get the benefit of the ‘deeming provision’ so long as its earlier interim order ‘is in vogue’.
The petitioners pointed out that despite the High Court’s earlier interim order restraining the Kochi Corporation and the Greater Cochin Development Authority (GCDA) from issuing permit or licence for converting residential plots into commercial purposes, several new commercial establishments had started operations in the area. Though the GCDA did not appear to act on fresh applications, it had, however, allowed the applicants to function in the area on the strength of the licence deemed to have been granted under Section 447(6) of the Kerala Municipality Act.
The petitioners alleged that a number of commercial establishments had come up in the area with the tacit approval of the GCDA. They further alleged that the GCDA had violated the court’s interim order by accepting applications for new licence. The action of the GCDA was tantamount to abuse of the process of law. In fact, the buildings and plots at Panampilly Nagar were allotted for residential purposes only. The land was assigned under the Detailed Town Planning Scheme for Elamkulam West, which envisaged a residential area. Certain plots in the residential colony had been converted into commercial plots for building offices, godowns, warehouses and showrooms.
The activities of these business establishments had made the life of residents difficult. It had caused noise and air pollution in the area, besides posing a threat to the privacy and peaceful life of the residents. The traffic congestion on the colony’s service roads had become the order of the day due to illegal parking of vehicles.