The decades-long uncertainty over a memorial for poet G. Sankara Kurup in the city seems to be over with Revenue officials all set to earmark the holding this week.
The memorial will come up at the Revenue puramboke land near the Goshree bridge behind the holding of the Greater Cochin Development Authority (GCDA).
Though the Revenue officials had reached the area last week, the holding could not be identified as it was covered with creepers and weeds. The holding was cleared of the vegetation and readied for measurement, said civic officials.
The measurement of the holding would be held this week, said a Revenue official.
The State government had earlier announced that 25 cents would be earmarked for setting up a memorial in the poet’s hometown. However, the civic body could not go ahead with the proposal as there was confusion over the holding for the memorial.
As many as three previous civic administrations including the last one, which had the granddaughter of the poet, B. Bhadra, as the Deputy Mayor, had announced their intentions for setting up a suitable memorial for the poet, who won the first Jnanpith Award. Kurup had won the awarded for his anthology of poems, Odakkuzhal .
Submission of report
After the Revenue officials complete measurement of the holding, a report will be submitted to the District Collector, who will forward it to the State government. An order handing over the land to the civic body should come from the State government for the civic body to act, said a civic administrator.
The civic administrators had earlier indicated that a cultural complex in memory of the poet was under consideration. Funds would not be a constraint for the project, she said. The funds from the Plan Fund of the corporation could be used for the project, the administrator added.
The annual budget of the civic body, which is supposed to be presented on March 9, is expected to have a proposal for setting up the memorial. If included in the budget, the project would be implemented during the 2018-19 fiscal, the administrator said.
