A resurvey of the Edappally canal following allegations of encroachment will begin on Monday.
The survey team comprises a head surveyor, surveyors and assistants.
Revenue documents pertaining to the land at the northern part of the canal need to be collected for the resurvey. Officials were expected to get the documents before the resurvey began, a senior official said.
Revenue officials checked the banks of the canal on Sunday for survey stones laid earlier. Some survey stones were laid in the area in 2009 following a court case. The stones were found intact, said a senior official of the department.
It was following the demand of the Kochi Metro Rail Limited (KMRL) that the district administration began the process for a resurvey. The KMRL had written to the Kalamassery municipality and the Kochi Corporation regarding the encroachments. Though the municipality had replied that there were no encroachments, the corporation had not filed its views.
The allegations of land encroachment by LuLu Mall at Edappally assumed significance following the Ernakulam district committee of the CPI(M) demanding an inquiry into the issue.
The party had also adopted the stand that the group be asked to foot the bill for setting up a flyover there as the functioning of the shopping mall had worsened the traffic situation. Raising the issue of land grab, CPI(M) district secretary Dinesh Mani and P. Rajeev, MP, demanded that the fund earmarked by the State government for the Edappally flyover be used for constructing flyovers in other parts of the city.
Joining the debate, Pinarayi Vijayan, State secretary of the party, said on Sunday that the LDF government had cleared the project after following the rules. On the demand of the district unit of the party for making the group responsible for the construction of the flyover at Edappally, Mr. Vijayan said the government should negotiate with the firm and decide on constructing a flyover to ease the congestion. He also went on to add that the party would not hold any agitations against the mall and would await the government’s decision.
