KOCHI: A joint session of the steering committee of the Kochi Corporation and leaders of various political parties will be convened here on Tuesday to decide on the takeover of Kokers theatre in Fort Kochi.
Mayor Soumini Jain announced the decision after Opposition councillors protested against “dilly-dallying” by the civic body over closure measures.
Raising the issue in the council, CPI(M) leaders Benedict Fernandez and K.J. Antony accused the corporation of dragging its feet on the issue and letting the owners illegally run the theatre.
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Maintaining that the corporation had not renewed the licence of the theatre, Mr. Fernandez wanted the council to take steps to close it down immediately.
Meanwhile, Ms. Jain’s reply that some outlets of the Kerala State Beverages Corporation were being run in the city without obtaining the mandatory licence from the civic body invited loud protests by Opposition councillors. The agitated councillors wanted the Mayor to clarify her stand on the issue.
The Mayor informed the council that the civic body could take decisions only in accordance with the law. Ms. Jain said a decision on the issue would be taken only after a detailed study of files. “Such a comprehensive decision could be taken only after discussing the issue on a larger platform,” she added.
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Incidentally, the court had earlier ordered the corporation to take over the land by paying ₹63 lakh to the theatre owners as the cost of the building.
However, the corporation authorities are yet to decide the mode of collecting the outstanding lease amount of ₹33 lakh from the owners.
Mobile towers
The Mayor informed the council that she was unaware of the orders of an official for constituting a committee to approve the applications of Reliance Jio Infocom for setting up mobile telephone towers.
Raising the issue in the council, Mr. Fernandez said the official had bypassed the corporation council and the standing committees by taking the decision.
Ms. Jain in her reply said she had come to know about the decision when it was raised by Mr. Fernandez.
The Mayor instructed officials to take steps for completing the formalities for cleaning up all major drains and canals in the city before the onset of the monsoon.