THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Revenue officials in Thiruvananthapuram tehsil remain tight-lipped about the ongoing Supreme Court case against Rajadhani building that they declared as an encroachment during Operation Anantha. Two years after the flood mitigation drive, there seems to be little interest in officialdom to raze the bar hotel located over Thekkanamkara canal in East Fort.
In April 2016 a High court division bench verdict had ratified the official position that the building owned by hotelier Biju Ramesh sat on a partially encroached land.
“Till date, no progress has happened in the case, and the hearing is to take place. The present government has no interest in legal proceedings to raze the encroachment. Past government was at least half-hearted in its effort to demolish the building,” said a senior official who spearheaded Anantha. During anti-encroachment drives to mitigate flood on May 2, 2015, the revenue officials realised that Mr Ramesh encroached the Thekkanankara canal, the city's second principal stormwater canal. As per the District Disaster Management Authority, the bar that sat on seven cents of encroached land was a threat to a 75-year-old arched conduit under it.
Further, an eviction notice was issued on May 8, 2015, to Mr Ramesh. Though smaller buildings in the vicinity were demolished on short notice on weekends, the officials waited long before they laid a hand on Rajadhani Bar. Days later, Mr Ramesh filed a writ petition before High Court and obtained a stay order on demolition. After the high court judgement in April 2016 once again the demolition was put on hold due to Assembly elections. He was soon to appeal this in Supreme Court. He contested that it was ‘Pandaram Vaka’ land given to his mother Indira Ramesh by erstwhile Travancore Royal family member Rama Varma.
