KOCHI: A memorial befitting the stature of Mahakavi G Sankara Kurup, whose literary genius had made him the nation’s first Jnanpith laureate, may soon grace the city if Mayor Anilkumar has his way. The new mayor, who assumed office barely days ago, has accorded top priority for a memorial to familiarise the public with the life and body of work of the scholar-poet popularly called Mahakavi G.
Anilkumar told TNIE that steps have been initiated to turn the proposed memorial for Mahakavi G into a reality. “ The land for the project is yet to be demarcated. The procedure to demarcate the proposed site behind Mangalavanam has already started. We are planning to construct the memorial this year itself,” said M Anilkumar.
Though the original plan was to set up the memorial on one acre of land, the government has since reduced the site of the proposed memorial to 25 cents. After the proposal had been first mooted by the corporation in 2009, it remained on the back-burner for over a decade. In 2018, Minister A C Moideen, while replying to a submission from John Fernandez, MLA, told the assembly that 25 cents of land were allotted to the corporation for the project. Though the UDF led council had earmarked funds for the project in the corporation’s annual budget, technical issues derailed the project.
“ We are planning to construct a memorial on one acre . As suggested by the government a bus bay will be included in the project. A project report has to be drawn up for the same, steps for which will be initiated soon,” the mayor said, adding, a meeting with Collector S Suhas will be convened in the coming days for resolving the issues pertaining to availability of land.
“ Since the proposed site lacks a passage, talks will be held with the Greater Cochin Development Authority(GCDA). True to our word, a memorial for G Sankara Kurup will become a reality soon,” the mayor added.