The Hindu                31.05.2013

Corporation to issue notice to mall, establishments

Civic body’s intervention follows a spate of reports on encroachments stifling Edappally canal.

The Kochi Corporation will soon issue show-cause notices
to the LuLu shopping mall, workshops, garbage yards and other
establishments which have allegedly encroached upon the water body or
whose boundaries hamper free flow of water in the Edappally canal, the
chairman of the Town Planning Standing Committee K.J. Sohan has said.

This
was aimed at ensuring the mandatory width for making the Edappally
canal navigable, Mr. Sohan said. The corporation decided to intervene in
the issue, though belatedly, following a spate of media reports on
encroachers stifling the water body.

Sources in the
water transport sector said the Kerala Shipping and Inland Navigation
Corporation (KSINC) had in March 2012 mentioned 13 encroachments into
the canal that was once used to ship people and materials.

The
encroachments include a 540-metre-long compound wall built alongside
the canal. The other violations range from a 30-metre-long compound wall
to 100-m-long parking sheds. These were listed in a study titled
‘Action plan on development of the Edappally canal’.

On
allegations that a mall’s compound wall is hampering free flow of
water, sources said that there was a condition in the no-objection
certificate issued by the Kochi Corporation to the property that the
compound wall has to be at a straight line from the bridge along NH 47
at Edappally Junction.

“It was also asked to demolish
the portions of the wall that protrude into the canal. The operators
were also asked to clean up the slush and construction debris from the
water body. As for bridges built over the canal in violation of the
minimum height (4.50 metre) rule, it is up to the Irrigation Department
to initiate action,” said a corporator. Officials associated with Kochi
metro rail said making the canal navigable at the earliest is crucial to
ensuring integration of different modes of transport.

“This
is among the criteria set by Japanese and French financial agencies to
provide loans for the metro. Big boats can ply in either direction only
if the canal is 15-metre wide.”

Currently, Kochi
Metro Rail Limited (KMRL) has identified Edappally and Vyttila as the
two hubs for integrating the metro rail with water transport.

The
clearance of the Edappally waterway for enabling waterborne traffic is
one of the secondary objectives of the KMRL as part of the action for
making this canal navigable.

The district revenue
authorities have been asked to conduct a resurvey along the length of
the canal in this regard, said a press release issued by the agency.

Compound wall issue

On
whether LuLu mall’s compound wall would have to be demolished for the
‘landing’ from the Edappally metro station, sources said the station has
been relocated just next to the bridge on NH, with landings on vacant
spots on either side. This prevents the need to demolish the wall.

Untreated sewage

Meanwhile,
members of Mankuzhi Nagar Residents’ Association, who reside just
behind LuLu mall, have objected to the increase in encroachments and the
discharge of effluents into the canal.

“Oftentimes,
people complain of severe head ache due to the nauseating stench. The
issue was also taken up with the mall’s management since it is affecting
people’s health in a major way,” said M.B. Prakash, former councillor
of Kalamassery municipality. The issue has also been taken up with the
District Administration, the State Human Rights Commission and the
Pollution Control Board.