Former Greater Cochin Development Authority (GCDA) chairman N. Venugopal has demanded a probe into all land deals carried out by the agency over the last 40 years.
Responding to allegations of loss caused to the agency during his tenure as chairman, Mr. Venugopal said the agency parted with 1.25 acres of land during the period. In one case, land was placed on auction as directed by the Supreme Court and the Kerala High Court. All transactions, including the one carried out by the previous regime and the nominees of the Left Democratic Front, should be probed, he said.
On the allegation that land was sold below the fair value fixed by the government, Mr. Venugopal said no land could be registered in the State below the fair value fixed by the government. Moreover, while tendering the land for sale, the base value was fixed at a rate, which was 50% higher than the fair value, he said.
The laser show was not conceived as a profit-making venture, but a value addition to tourism activities. The ticket prize was slashed significantly following the intervention of persons such as jurist V.R. Krishna Iyer, he said.
It was not the GCDA, but a recreation club and society of employees of the agency that did farming on agency premises. The amount projected as the cost of farming was incurred for the maintenance of the garden, he said.
