Kochi: None heeded CAG’s CRZ violation reports

Kochi: The hue and cry made by Opposition Leader Ramesh Chennithala and many other Congress leaders on the need for CAG audit of the accounts of Kerala Infrastructure Finance Fund Board (KIFFB) and Kannur International Airport Ltd (KIAL) is unconvincing. The track record of successive governments in the state shows scant regard for CAG findings linked to the violations of CRZ rules by builders and other influential people over the years.

The matter assumes importance as the Supreme Court on Monday hinted at the possibility of conducting a comprehensive survey and study of CRZ violations in the state in the wake of its order to demolish five apartment complexes in Maradu municipality, Ernakulam.

A CAG report on the Local Self- Government Institutions (LSGI) for the year ended March 2013 had listed 19 buildings by the side of Chilavannur lake in Kochi violating CRZ norms. The CAG report also mentioned that although the Coastal Zone Management Authority had informed the Kochi corporation about 13 buildings in 2011 itself, nothing has been done in this regard.

Other than informing that the violations would be brought to the notices of CZMA, the successive governments in the state have not taken any measures in curbing such violations or initiating action against the guilty.

The CAG findings in 2013 were among the 66 violations reported by the Kerala Coastal Zone Management Authority in its 103rd meeting held on June 7, 2019.

 Apart from the CAG report, the list was compiled based on the court cases in the Supreme Court, High Court and National Green Tribunal. The 66 violations are spread over the districts of Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam, Alappuzha, Ernakulam, Kozhikode, Kannur and Kasargod.

Thrissur and Malappuram are the only two coastal districts unaffected by the CRZ violations as per the KCZMA list.

 The list of violators of the CRZ norms is a virtual 'who is who' of the hospitality industry and apartment builders in the state and Ernakulam district is the worst-affected.

The information available in public domain shows a clear pattern of planned and deliberate violations of the CRZ norms with the local bodies concerned not showing any interest in curbing such malpractices. The regulatory agencies at the local and the state levels have also failed in doing their duties efficiently.