: A commercial-cum-residential apartment complex that has come up near Pettah Bridge at Tripunithura without obtaining Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) has been denied occupancy certificate.
The Kerala Coastal Zone Management Authority (KCZMA) has also decided to initiate legal action against the secretary of Tripunithura Municipality, who gave construction permit to the building without obtaining the CRZ clearance.
The meeting of the authority held in Kochi last week has decided to issue a show-cause notice to the secretary who issued the permit. Legal action as contemplated in the Environment Protection Act will be initiated against the erring officials, said a member of the authority.
The issue came to the notice of the authority with the current secretary approaching KCZMA for its opinion on issuing occupancy certificate for the building, which was built without obtaining CRZ clearance. Subsequently, the secretary also informed the authority that the building had already been completed based on the permit issued by the municipality, according to the agenda note of the meeting.
K.T. James, the present secretary of the municipality said the construction permit was issued for the project in 2008. The building was issued partial occupancy certificate on request from the project proponent. The issue of CRZ violation of the project resurfaced after the KCZMA convened a meeting of the municipalities and other local bodies to list out the violations in their respective areas, said Mr. James.
The KCZMA has asked the municipality not to issue final occupancy for the building. The local body was asked to withhold the certificate as it didn’t have CRZ clearance. The municipality is bound to implement the directives of the authority, said Mr. James.
The Kochi meeting of the authority cleared around 75 applications for construction, repair and renovation of dwelling units from the coastal community members and traditional dwellers of the district.
The Authority also directed the secretary of the Edavanakkad Grama Panchayat to limit the extent of a proposed Pakalveedu (old age care home) to 60 square metres .
The secretary had approached the authority for CRZ clearance for construction of building for old age home in Ward 4 with a plinth area of 186.60 square metres. The old age home was proposed on the banks of a Pokkali field. On inspection, it was found that the proposed construction was 4 metres away from the high tide line of the field, according to KCZMA officials.
