THRISSUR: With the arrest of the CM’s former principal secretary, M Sivasankar, by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in connection with the LIFE Mission scam, the abandoned project building in Wadakkanchery is back in the limelight. Construction work on the complex came to a standstill following unearthing of the scam two years ago. The nearly 140 beneficiaries have been in the dark since on the future of the project.
It was in 2019 that UAE-based Red Crescent signed an agreement with LIFE Mission to construct the apartment complex on 2.18 acres of land at Charalparambu, in Wadakkanchery. Unitac Builders was entrusted with the construction of approximately 140 flats. After the CBI registered a case, Unitac withdrew from the contract and construction work ground to a halt.
In the meantime, former MLA and Congress leader Anil Akkara questioned the government’s claims that the flats were being constructed for those who lost houses in the 2018 flood, as the agreement with the USE-based humanitarian organisation mandated. Concerns over quality of construction were also raised by Anil and other Congress leaders, but a vigilance report dismissed such concerns.
Following years of inactivity, the skeletal frame of the building is now in a bad state, while the construction materials that were dumped in the compound have gone missing. Anil had also approached the High Court seeking resumption of construction work, but the case is pending.
Last December, Wadakkanchery MLA Xavier Chittilappilly raised the issue in the state assembly. In his reply, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan assured to speed up measures to resolve the legal tangle and take steps to resume construction work.