KOCHI: The hue and cry raised over the lackadaisical attitude of the authorities in completing the renovation work at Jew Town, undertaken as a part of the Smart City project, yielded some results with the Cochin Smart Mission Ltd calling a meeting of the stakeholders on Wednesday. Many important decisions were taken at the meeting, the major one being keeping the structure and outlay of the street leading to the Jewish Synagogue the same.
According to Junai Sulaiman, secretary of the Kerala Handicraft Welfare Association, the meeting decided to complete the renovation of the synagogue lane by maintaining all heritage features of the 450-year-old Mattancherry synagogue and the street.
“The street will be repaved with the cobblestones from building to building. Even the drainage covers will be made of the stones used to pave the street,” he said. As to the installation of the streetlights, a consensus has been arrived at getting permission from the building owners to have them installed on the top of the structures by intertwining them, he added.
“An underground duct will be laid in the middle of the road so that all the cables and power lines can be drawn through it. This might happen now or in the future and will ensure that the road is not disturbed or dug up,” said Junaid. Streetscape picture will be displayed and waterlogging in front of the synagogue will be cleared without replacing or damaging the old balance stone, he added.