THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Angelika Francisca Weber, a biologist from Germany, has been going through the toughest phase of her life ever since she planned to build a resort at Varkala in 2008.
Weber, who came to Kerala as official biologist of a private resort group, later planned to start resort of her own, bought 28.3 cents of land and formed a company - Sansa Hotels and Resorts. Then onwards Weber has had to face the ill-effects of red tapism. Weber submitted the requisite plan to Varkala Municipality in November 2011 for starting work of the resort.
The municipality did not process the application in time and Weber submitted a reference application before the municipal council in January 2012. In February 2012, the municipality gave an intimation directing her to produce the revised location plan.
“As per the demand, I produced the revised location plan within two days and was promised the permit in a week. But I had to obtain a deemed permit as the municipality made lapses in processing the permit application in time, and started the construction,” says Weber.
The municipality then, in June that year, issued an order to demolish the construction and stop further work saying that it was ‘illegal’. The 58-year-old woman countered the order in the Tribunal for Local Self-Government Institutions in the district. The tribunal, in November 2012, passed the order setting aside the order of the municipality. The court also directed Weber not to proceed with the construction till a permit was obtained on her application. The secretary of the municipality was directed to consider the application for permit already given by the appellant and pass appropriate orders there in within a period of one month from the date of the order.
“The municipality is yet to take any action on this order. In February this year, we had given a request to the secretary of the municipality detailing the entire developments. But there was no response,” says Jobin Purushothaman, counsel of Weber.
Weber says that she has already spent Rs one crore on the project and is in a ‘ruined’ state. She says the egoistic attitude of some persons stands in the way of the project.