Revenue officials of Kochi who surveyed the Edappally canal area following allegations of land grab by LuLu mall have not found any instances of violations, it is learnt.
The officials from the Kanayannur taluk office have submitted an interim report to the District Collector in this regard, it is understood.
The collector had ordered the resurvey in the area following a complaint from Kochi Metro Rail Limited (KMRL). The areas coming under the jurisdiction of the Kalamassery municipality and the Kochi Corporation were covered by the survey team. Elias George, managing director of KMRL, said on record that the land needed a resurvey.
The agency had earlier approached the Kochi Corporation and the Kalamassery municipality calling for an assessment in the region.
While the Kalamassery municipality came out with the finding that there were no encroachments, the corporation did not reply to the metro chief’s letter.
Senior officials of the corporation maintained that it could not find any encroachments on the Edappally canal during its inspections.
The issue assumed significance after the Ernakulam district committee of the CPI(M) levelled allegations of land grab against the LuLu group. C.M. Dinesh Mani, district secretary of the party, and P. Rajeev, MP, demanded the group be asked to foot the bill for constructing an overbridge near the mall.
As the controversy raged, party State secretary Pinarayi Vijayan joined the debate by stating the CPI(M) would not stage any agitations before the mall. He, however, justified the demands raised by the district unit of the party.
