The Thiruvananthapuram Corporation has served show cause notices on
11 tourist resorts in the Vizhinjam area for violating Coastal
Regulation Zone (CRZ) norms.

 The 11 resorts are among the 31
identified by an expert panel of the Coastal Zone Management Authority
as having violated CRZ norms, Additional Chief Secretary (Local
Self-Government and Ports) James Varghese said on Tuesday. Of the 11,
eight are in the area identified for the Vizhinjam International
Container Transshipment Terminal (ICTT) project.

 ‘’Although 31
resorts were identified in all, only 11 fall within the jurisdiction of
the Corporation. So the Corporation has issued show cause notices as to
why they should not be demolished,’’ he said.

 The eight resorts
have been in the eye of a storm ever since the government planned to
acquire the land for the Vizhinjam project. Last month, the CZMA expert
panel submitted its recommendations, which said that 31 resorts in the
region had come up violating CRZ norms. On their part, the resort owners
had charged the government with a witch-hunt.

 Ports Minister K
Babu said on Tuesday that the government needed the land for connecting
two back-up areas for the project. Compensation will be provided for the
land, but not for constructions as they exist in violation of norms.
The government will also give shape to a Rs 1.4-crore compensation
package for the employees of the resorts.

 ‘’Altogether, in these
eight resorts, there are only 50 rooms. Should we sacrifice a big
project for their sake?’’ asked  Babu here on Tuesday, while announcing
that the Vizhinjam ICTT project had obtained environmental clearance
from an expert panel of the Ministry of Environment and Forests.

 According
to the government, there are components in the ICTT project which will
boost tourism. The major proposal in this regard is a cruise terminal
planned at the port. Minister of State for HRD Shashi Tharoor said that
the port project will, in fact, boost tourism rather than hamper it.