Survey soon to detect flouting of coastal zone norms in Chilavanoor

KCZMA constitutes two-member committee to support district administration to carry out task

Numerous violations of coastal zone norms and encroachments in the Chilavanoor Lake are have been reported.

The survey of Chilavanoor Lake, the reported hotbed of Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) violations and encroachments, will begin shortly.

The Kerala Coastal Zone Management Authority (KCZMA), which met last week, has constituted a two-member committee to support the Ernakulam district administration to survey the lake. The survey was ordered by the High Court of Kerala on a petition by social activist Cheshire Tarzan.

The petitioner has sought to “conduct a survey on the land on the banks of the Chilavanoor Lake on the basis of the old resurvey and CRZ plans and sketches on the basis of satellite inputs,” according to the agenda note of the authority.

Several agencies, including the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) had pointed out instances of violation of laws on the banks of Chilavanoor, which is one of the premium waterfront real estate sites of Kochi.

The CAG, in its audit report of Local Self Governments for the year 2013, had listed 19 buildings, which had come up in violation of laws. The names of nine builders and a few prominent personalities, including industrialists, for whom permission for construction was given without the concurrence of the KCZMA, were mentioned in the report of the CAG.

The authority, the State government and a few others have approached the Supreme Court against an order of the High Court of Kerala, which slapped a fine of ₹1 crore on DLF Builders, also located on the banks of Chilavanoor Lake. The court found that the project had come up in violation of laws. The High Court had ordered the builder to remit the fine with the Ernakulam District Collector.

The Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau had also launched an investigation into the alleged violations in the region.

The sub-committee of the KCZMA will have N.R. Menon and Kamalakshan Kokkal as its members. The service of a geographic information system (GIS) expert will also be sought to aid the survey team, sources in the authority said.

The Ernakulam district administration has also informed the authority about the constitution of a Special Task Force to conduct the survey. The Ernakulam Sub Collector will be the chairman of the Task Force for the survey and demarcation of the land.