The High Court on Wednesday suo motu impleaded the Director, Kerala Sustainable Urban Development Project (KSUDP) as a respondent in a contempt case, for failure to comply with a court directive to complete the drain works at Panampilly Nagar.
A Division Bench comprising Chief Justice Manjula Chellur and Justice K Vinod Chandran issued the order while considering the contempt petition filed by Peter Augustine, resident in the area. According to him, Kochi Corporation had not taken any steps to implement the High Court order. The court had directed the Corporation to complete drain construction project using round pipes. The drain would prevent flooding in Perumanoor, Ravipuram, Panampilly Nagar areas.
The counsel for the Kochi Corporation submitted that it was not getting approval from the director for the work in spite of intimating the director about the court directive. Hence the court issued the order. For the completion of the work in a satisfactory manner, at least three to five months are required. The Cochin Corporation had made all arrangements to start work immediately after approval from project director of the Kerala Sustainable Urban Development Project, it said.
The court had made it clear that in view of the monsoon, all steps should be taken to complete the work in time to avoid unnecessary hardships and inconvenience to the residents of the locality. But it was not followed and the failure to comply with the directive amounted to contempt of court.