As part of its initiative to initiate welfare programmes, the 
Tripunithura Municipality on Sunday launched its prestigious Town Hall 
project at Kannankulangara.

The official inauguration of the
construction of the Town Hall building was  done by Excise Minister K
Babu at function held here.

As per plan, the three-story building will come up at one-and-a-half acres  of land at Kannankulangara within two years.

In
his inaugural speech, the Minister, who is also the local MLA, said he 
wouls back every viable development projects undertaken in the
constituency by providing aid from his MLA Fund or helping source money
from the state government.

Babu also urged the municipal authorities to turn the building into a finest shopping mall.

Meanwhile,
Tripunithura Municipality vice-chairperson Thilothama Suresh said as
per the suggestion of the Minister, the ground floor and first  floor
will be developed into a shopping mall. The second and third floor  will
exclusively be saved for the Town Hall. “The municipality has plans to
set up multiplex in the mall. The total cost of the project is `5 crore
and as much as `2 crore has already been  sanctioned. The project will
be developed as a decent source of income for the municipality,”
Thilothama said.

The proposal also includes the cellar parking
facility which can  accommodate over 100 hundred vehicles at a time.
Though the project was introduced in 1988, it was stuck in its very
initial stage. The company which was entrusted with the construction
work dropped the project after constructing few pillars citing the lack
of funds. Though the earlier municipal council tried to restart the
project, the move was objected by the local auditors who sought details
of the fund spent on the project.

“However, we have sorted out all
issues. Through Excise Minister K Babu, we could procure the permission
of the state government to relaunch the project. We have given the
report to the state government that the-then municipal council and
secretary were responsible for the fund invested on the project,”
municipal authorities said.

Councillors Roopa Raju, Sasi Vellakkattu and Tripunithura Municipal secretary K T James were also present.