KOCHI: Standing in front of her property, spanning nearly 11 cents, in Kochi’s Girinagar Colony, Suja J Sebastian feels helpless and uncertain about her future. On the plot stands her unfinished five-storey building, whose construction came to an abrupt halt in 2015 following a court order.
“We have been living in a rented house since 2015. My husband passed away two years back, leaving me to fight the legal battle. The builder, who had promised to complete the project, left following the court case,” says the 56-year-old.
In fact, the case has set the development of the entire colony back by several decades, even as its surrounding areas – Panampilly Nagar, Krishna Vihar Nagar and Jawahar Colony – fast developed into commercial-cum-residential hubs. And, property owners at Girinagar Housing Colony, the first colony developed by the state government, can do nothing but watch helplessly as the court case drags on.
What’s more, the case has come up before the court 94 times since 2015, but not once have the respondents been heard.
Azad Padiyath is also among the property owners and residents affected by the case. Though construction of his house is over, the 78-year-old has been denied a building number and hence, cannot apply for electricity and water connections. Ditto is the situation of 74-year-old resident Vijayan. The construction of his three-storey residential complex, which cost him several lakhs, is stuck due to the legal issues. Almost everyone who owns property in Girinagar Colony, located near the teeming Kadavanthra area, is constrained by the court case, which many reckon is without rhythm or reason.
The allotment of land goes back to 1965 when around 110 acres on both side of Ernakulam-Tripunithura road (now Sahodaran Ayyappan Road) in Elamkulam was acquired and developed under the ‘Land Acquisition and Development Scheme’ formulated by the Union government.
Of this, 33-odd acres were utilised to set up Girinagar Colony. The areas lying opposite were allotted for other purposes and entities like GCDA, a shopping complex, KWA water tank, regional sports centre, Indira Gandhi hospital, Kendriya Vidyalaya, a working women’s hostel, a village office among others. “All these buildings were allotted on the condition that permissions should be given as per the master plan,” said a resident.
However, some petitioners moved the Kerala High Court seeking its intervention against granting permission for setting up commercial facilities at Girinagar Colony.
So, while the entire area surrounding it thrived and became sought-after commercial and residential hubs, Girinagar is fast fading into oblivion with unoccupied buildings, overgrown bushes and half-finished concrete structures.
A resident said offices, schools, hospitals, shops, parks, community facilities, nursery/kindergarten, etc – all are permitted in residential areas by law as per Table 4.4 of the structural plan of the central city of Kochi, which was notified as a deemed master plan under the Kerala Town and Country Planning Act 2016.
“As per the master plan, Girinagar is a residential area and a residential area can have offices, schools and shops. As per law, no court can stop the implementation of statutes. You can question the law, but you cannot question its implementation,” said the resident, who also alleged that the correct facts have not been brought to the court’s attention, and it has been misguided into issuing unfavourable orders.
Girinagar was not part of any detailed town planning (DTP) scheme, perhaps because it predates the Greater Cochin Development Authority (GCDA), which created the schemes, said another resident. While all the land surrounding Girinagar is a mixed zone for miles, the 33-odd acres that comes under the same scheme has been stuck in the past.
According to another plot owner, the petitioners’ demand that things remain as they were in 1964 is unreasonable and highly irrational. “There is no place on earth where that is possible, not even in forests,” the plot owner said.