KAKKANAD: Soon the Lakshadweep people will get a burial yard in the district to perform their last rites. A decision in this regard was taken at a high-level meeting held under the aegis of Chief Secretary E K Bharat Bhushan in Thiruvananthapuram.
The decision was taken on the basis of a memorandum submitted by the Lakshadweep authorities to the district administration to earmark a plot to set up a burial ground. Around 74 for cents of land will be acquired from Poonithura panchayat at Tripunithura.
Most of the Lakshadweep people depend on hospitals in Ernakulam for advanced treatment. In case of death during treatment, their bodies have to be taken back to their native places. This results in a lot of inconvenience to the relatives as transporting the body back in time is an arduous task. Once the burial yard becomes a reality, the bodies can be buried in the district itself.
The land owner has agreed to surrender the land for the project. The price of the land will be decided later,” sources said.
Petrochemical Project
The meeting also gave nod to acquire around 325 acres of land for the petrochemical project from Puthencruz and Thiruvaniyoor panchayats in Kunnathunadu taluk. Earlier, the Kerala State Industrial Development Corporation (KSIDC) had planned to set up the petrochemical park on 500 acres of land adjacent to the Integrated Refinery Expansion Project of BPCL- Kochi Refinery site at Ambalamugal.
But later it has brought down to 325 acres as the project would have affected 592 households.
The petrochemical park will have a small-scale industries (SSI) park with focus on MSME sector. The proposed petrochemical complex will produce 5 lakh tonnes of propylene and 75,000 tonnes of ethylene, which will be used as raw materials to manufacture various byproducts.