The deadlock over infrastructure work at Kerala Veterinary and Animal Sciences University (KVASU) headquarters at Pookode in Wayanad district has been resolved with the intervention of Chief Minister Oommen Chandy.
Mr. Chandy sanctioned Rs.4 crore on Tuesday for purchasing alternative land to resume construction activities at Pookode. The university plans to acquire nearly 10 acres of land near its campus in Vythiri taluk. The Rs.35-crore construction activities, including two academic blocks, an international faculty guest house, a women’s hostel, a sports complex, and a central training institute, had come to a halt after a stop memo was issued by the southern regional office of the Union Ministry of Forests and Environment in November last.
The National Green Tribunal, Southern Zone, Chennai, also issued an interim order in December to restrain all construction activities after an environmental organisation in the district approached it. They said in their petition that the university was in possession of 100 acres of land which was deemed reserved forest.
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The land was set apart for assignment to the Scheduled Tribes, they said. Mr. Chandy sanctioned the amount after senior officials of the KVASU informed him that Central government funds to the tune of Rs.35 crore to the university would lapse if it was not spent in 2015-16 fiscal.
The university would meet the amount from its plan fund for 2015-16, B, Ashok, Vice Chancellor, KVASU, told The Hindu . The next meeting of the Board of Management of the university on April 1 would decide the future course of action, he said.
Plan to acquire 10 acres near varsity campus at Pookode
Forest Department, green tribunal opposed work