Opposition Leader V.S. Achuthanandan, who visited Chilavannoor in Kochi on Saturday to examine the alleged Coastal Regulation Zone violation by DLF builders, demanded that the State government should take immediate steps to pull down the buildings at the site.
Addressing media persons, Mr. Achuthanandan urged Chief Minister Oommen Chandy to recover the land worth crores of rupees possessed by the project developer and initiate stern action against the officials who had gone out of the way to grant the clearance to the project.
“It was the State government which first reported about the violations by DLF. The finding was corroborated by another report by its Chief Secretary himself. Hesitant to take action, the government left it for the consideration of the Kerala Coastal Zone Management Authority. Now that their report pointing out serious violations has come out, what is the government waiting for?’’, he asked.
The CAG report said that about 19 buildings had been constructed violating the coastal management rules and even the Union government was dragging its feet on the issue. “The Centre cannot shy away from its responsibility and it should immediately step in and direct the State government to take action against the culprits’’, he said.
Pointing out similar violations in areas including Pattur, Adimalathura and Panavalli, he also spoke of the plans to float a volunteer organisation against land encroachments across the State. To a query on whether the organisation would exist outside the party framework, he said that it would be clear upon joining the association.
Mr. Achuthanandan’s vist to Chilavannoor came a day after the KCZMA accepted the report of its sub-committee accusing DLF builders of violating the Coastal Regulation Zone guidelines at its project here.
Earlier, the Comptroller and Auditor General had reported that the Kochi Municipal Corporation had issued permits for construction of 19 buildings, including some multi-storied ones by the side of Chilavannoor backwaters. The CAG had also found that the authority had reported the violations by 13 buildings to the corporation in February 2011.
Visit to RBDCK siteMr. Achuthanandan also visited the controversial project of the Roads and Bridges Development Corporation of Kerala (RBDCK) in Kakkanad on Saturday.
The visit followed a memorandum submitted by the Public Interest Protection Council, formed to coordinate protest against the project, allegedly is coming up an unscientific location at the collectorate signal junction.
Following the visit, which lasted about 10 minutes, Mr. Achuthanandan said that he would intervene in the issue after holding a detailed study into the pros and cons of the proposed project.
“Preliminary evidences suggest that it is being developed in an unscientific manner. After holding a detailed study, I will take up the matter with the officials concerned’’, he said.
According to the complainants, the construction of building at the location would worsen traffic on the seaport-airport road and would stand in the way of an integrated plan for the area, serving as the gateway to the collectorate, Infopark and SmartCity. Earlier on Thursday, the protesters formed a human wall against the project, in which representatives of political parties, trade and industrial bodies and residents’ associations took part.
