Prominent cultural and political citizens have petitioned the State government to withdraw the project by the Thiruvananthapuram Development Authority (TRIDA) to construct a bus bay and shopping complex on two acres of land in the Attakulangara Central High School compound.
In a signed petition to the Chief Minister, under the initiative of TreeWalk Thiruvananthapuram, they said the government should consider the grave environmental impact, the potential loss of the school playground, and the historic significance of the buildings constructed in 1889.
Signatories to the statement include film director Adoor Gopalakrishnan; Prof. B. Hridayakumari; Director of Kerala University’s Centre for Bioinformatics Achuthsankar S. Nair; and sculptor Kanayi Kunhiraman. The cause is supported by educationist Ninan Koshy, journalist B.R.P. Bhaskar, the former Minister Benoy Viswom, among others.