The plot of land where the Kochi Corporation plans on constructing a memorial to poet G. Sankara Kurup falls within the eco-sensitive zone around Mangalavanam, but this is unlikely to impede construction, according to Mayor M. Anilkumar.
The notification says that forest, horticulture areas, parks, and recreational spaces in the eco-sensitive zone cannot be converted for commercial, residential or industrial purposes, the Mayor said.Even these constructions can be permitted on the recommendations of a monitoring committee, he said. But since the the memorial is not a commercial, industrial or residential construction, the plan for it is unlikely to be affected by the eco-sensitive zone notification, he said. The corporation owns around 25 cents in the area, adjacent to 17 acres of land that belongs to the Kerala State Housing Board.
Further, a letter was sent from the Assistant Conservator of Forests in September last year to officials including the Secretary of the corporation and the ward councillor, on the notification. But no objections were raised then over the notification, the Mayor said.
The Town Planning Standing Committee has been tasked with examining whether or not the eco-sensitive zone notification is likely to affect construction of the memorial.
The Union Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change had published a notification in September last year, which declared an area of 0 to 1 km around Mangalavanam as an eco-sensitive zone.
