KOCHI: The Kerala High Court has ordered the constitution of a permanent monitoring committee comprising senior officers from each department for the maintenance and upkeep of the Marine Drive walkway.
Disposing of a petition filed by Renjith G Thampy of Ernakulam seeking a directive to maintain and repair the walkway, a division bench comprising Chief Justice Nitin Jamdar and Justice S Manu directed the district collector, secretaries of the Greater Cochin Development Authority and Kochi corporation, the commissioner/IG of Kochi city and the secretary of the Kerala State Pollution Control Board to hold a joint meeting within four weeks for formulating the Kochi Marine Drive Monitoring Committee. The HC also directed the state government to issue orders within four weeks on constituting the committee thus formulated.
At the hearing, the bench noted that the situation (at Marine Drive) had now improved from the time when the proceedings were instituted five years ago.
The HC said the monitoring committee should designate a nodal officer to coordinate with the officers of the departments who are part of the body. A protocol for the functioning and coordination will be developed by the monitoring committee based on the interim directions issued by the court from time to time, it said, adding that the committee should meet periodically, not less than twice a year.
The court also said the committee should also provide a dedicated telephone number, email address and social media addresses, where citizens can register complaints.