THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The construction activities going on in areas surrounding the Kanakakunnu Palace as part of a major beautification project taken up by the public works department (PWD) have irked environment activists.
The activists allege that the works being undertaken are in violation of an existing Kerala High Court order, which restricts any kind of construction activities, hard landscaping, excavation, tree removal and demolition of structures within the compound and inside the historically significant Kanakakunnu Palace. They have lodged a complaint with the Museum police station seeking action.
“The construction activities are strategically being planned under the cover of the Onam event when the palace premises are inaccessible to the public. This is clear violation of the HC order,” said Sanjeev S J of Environmental Protection and Research Council (EPRC), who lodged the police complaint.
He alleged that the authorities demolished heritage structures and are attempting to construct a wall surrounding the palace.
“They should not be doing this without the permission of Art and Heritage Commission,” Sanjeev said.
Meanwhile, the Museum police has halted the ongoing construction works in view of the complaint.
“We have directed the authorities to stall the construction activities and have a discussion with the tourism director before resuming the work,” said an official with the Museum police station.
The PWD launched the Rs 2-crore project to beautify and make the palace premises barrier-free for persons with disabilities (PwDs) around six months back.
A PWD official told TNIE that the project aims to introduce barrier-free features to the palace premises so that it is accessible to PwDs and visually-impaired persons.
“We did hard landscaping, soft landscaping, and built a toilet facility for PwDs. The palace premises was lying shabby as it was being used to hold events. Now, we have decided against allowing events and exhibition in the palace area,” said the official.
Kanakakunnu Palace authorities said they were not building any wall around the palace.
“We are constructing a heritage structure that will be an entry point with the name board of Kanakakunnu Palace. The new structure is designed carefully with heritage elements to suit the palace premises,” said one of the palace authorities.
Earlier, the tourism department implemented a slew of construction activities in connection with a proposed nightlife project on the heritage grounds of Kanakakunnu Palace. However, environment activists moved the HC to stall the launch.
Kanakakunnu was one of the first locations identified by the department for launching nightlife in Kerala.