The government decision to relegate Kochi Mayor as a member of the expert committee to scrutinise the Kochi Master plan document has not gone down well with the Kochi Corporation.
Going by the earlier decision, the Kochi Mayor was to head the scrutinising panel, which had government secretaries and senior officials as its members. Protesting against the decision to downgrade the Kochi Mayor, the Kochi Corporation council had passed a resolution asking the State government to reinstate Kochi Mayor as the head of the panel.
Kochi Mayor Tony Chammany felt that the government move went against the very concept of local self governments.
The local self government, which is a constitutionally set up and elected body, should have the right to decide on its development plans. The Mayor of the city and not any government official, should lead the panel, he said.
It was the legendary architect Charles Correa, who conceived the idea of Navi Mumbai. The Kochi Corporation council had earlier succeeded in securing the service of renowned urban planner K.T. Raveendran, who was the Dean of the School of Planning and Architecture, New Delhi.
A panel of eminent urban planners of Mr. Raveendran’s stature should vet the plan document, which will leave its footprint in the city life for decades to come, suggested Mr. K.J. Sohan, chairman of the Town Planning Standing Committee of the Kochi Corporation. – Special Correspondent
