The Kochi Corporation issued building permits for 10
high-rises on the banks of the Chilavannur lake between 2003 and 2008
without seeking the coastal regulation zone (CRZ) clearance from the
Kerala State Coastal Zone Management Authority (KSCZMA). The Corporation
admitted to this violation in a response to a Right to Information
(RTI) application filed by The Hindu.

The Chilavannur
backwater is part of the Vembanad lake, which is listed as a Ramsar
site. Ramsar Convention is an international treaty for conservation and
sustainable utilisation of wetlands.

Interestingly,
the local body issued stop memos to the builders only after an expert
committee, constituted by the authority in November, 2010, asked the
Corporation authorities to freeze reclamation of filtration ponds and
tidal marshes in the region for real estate development.

Work on all these high-rises was almost over when the Corporation issued the stop memos.

The
information was received in a written reply dated March 11, 2013, from
the Assistant Executive Engineer, Town Planning section of the
Corporation at Vyttila.

The green signal for
constructing the high-rises was given by the local body when it had in
its possession the coastal zone management plan for the entire State
specifying the areas coming under the coastal regulation zone.

The
Department of Local Self Government had also issued stringent
directives that the local bodies concerned should ensure that the CRZ
norms are not violated while issuing building permits especially in
ecologically-sensitive regions.

The Corporation
ignored the government orders in this regard and gave building permits
without ascertaining whether the builder had received the CRZ clearance.

The
Corporation issued building permit to even high-rises located within 20
metres of the high-tide line (HTL). As per the CRZ notification, 1991,
100 metres from the HTL or the width of the water body, whichever is
less, will be a no-development zone (NDZ) in backwater islands.

Even
though the NDZ was reduced to 50 metres in the CRZ notification, 2011,
it was clearly mentioned that no new construction will be permitted in
the region. Only fishermen were allowed to set up their dwelling units
beyond 50 metres from the HTL on the landward side of the backwater
islands with the prior permission of the concerned village panchayat.

In
its reply to the RTI petition, the corporation admitted that it was yet
to submit the details of building permits issued for buildings on the
banks of Chilavannur Lake from 1996 to 2005 to the KSCZMA.

An
expert team of the authority had submitted a report that large-scale
reclamation of filtration ponds and tidal marshes had taken place on
both the banks almost all along the entire stretch of the backwater.

A
question on the total number of building permits issued by the
corporation on either sides of the Chilavannur Lake generated a vague
response that it could be given only after examining the permit files
issued between 1996 and 2005.

“The details could be
given, if you could furnish the permit file number of buildings
constructed in the area. The building permit register during this period
is available in this office,” it said.