A Division Bench of the Kerala High Court on Tuesday directed the State government to file a report on the survey conducted on the banks of the Chilavannoor lake to identify illegal constructions and encroachments there.
The Bench comprising Chief Justice S. Manikumar and Justice Shaji P. Chaly passed the directive on a petition filed by Cheshire Tarzan of Kadavanthra. According to him, the lake area had been included in the CRZ I as per the coastal regulation notification 2011 as the land near the waterbody was ecologically sensitive. It was part of the Vembanad backwaters, a critically vulnerable water body. The banks of the Chilavannoor lake were once fertile with Pokkali cultivation and mangrove vegetation. However, it had vanished because of indiscriminate reclamation of the waterbody and illegal constructions.
When the petition came up for hearing, the government pleader submitted that the survey as ordered by the High Court was complete. The court then asked the government to file the survey report in three weeks.
ADVERTISEMENT
The petitioner further said that encroachments, reclamation and dumping of waste including construction waste had caused serious threat to the Chilavanoor lake. No action had been taken to stop or prevent such illegal activities. The authorities were bound to take timely action against the reclamation and illegal constructions on the banks of the lake.
The petitioner also alleged that the Kochi Corporation and Maradu Municipality were aware of the illegalities and know that the lake would come under the CRZ. However, they continued to grant permissions for illegal constructions on the banks of the lake.