Chief Minister Oommen Chandy has assured the people of Maradu municipality that he will keep in mind their apprehensions about the Coastal Regulation Zone draft notification and its impact on life in the municipal area. He assured them that he would take up the issues when he visited New Delhi on October 16.
The Chief Minister was speaking at the inauguration of the office complex of Maradu Service Cooperative Bank at Kottaram Junction on Saturday.
Chairman of Maradu municipality T.K. Devarajan said the municipal council had passed a resolution demanding the categorisation of the municipal area under CRZ rules be changed so that development activities would not be affected.
Mr. Devarajan said as the notification stood now, it would almost be impossible for the local people, including fishermen, to build new houses.
He said the municipal authority submitted a memorandum to the Chief Minister on Saturday outlining its fears about future development activities in view of the CRZ draft notification.
Praise for bankThe Chief Minister praised the Service Cooperative Bank and said it had continued to thrive and serve the people because of the trust they reposed in it. Mr. Chandy inaugurated the new office and shopping complex at a brief function at which Minister for Fisheries, Excise and Ports K. Babu presided.
It was recalled during the inaugural function that the Maradu Service Cooperative Bank had had a long history, starting as a small bank with 25 members in the old kingdom of Kochi in 1917. The Service Cooperative Bank now has a membership of 30,000 and a working capital of Rs. 210 crore.
V. D. Satheesan, MLA, distributed the educational awards during the inaugural function and Dominic Presentation, MLA, inaugurated a pension scheme.
