THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Green activists in the state capital have come out against a beautification project undertaken by the Public Works Department (PWD) at the Kanakakunnu palace premises. The activists allege that the project is in contempt of court as it violates an existing High Court order. At present, the PWD has dug open the areas surrounding the palace using a JCB for laying water pipelines.
According to green activists, there is an existing 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. According to the palace authorities, the beautification project cost around Rs1.5 crore, and is one of the key projects taken up by the tourism department this financial year.
“Kanakakunnu is a sought-after heritage spot in the capital frequented by hundreds of visitors daily and the project is crucial for giving more amenities to the public. The plan is to landscape the palace’s surrounding area and give proper pavements for people to walk,” said an official in charge of the palace.
The Kerala High Court issued the order in May last year following a complaint against the work undertaken by the Uralungal Labour Contract Cooperative Society Ltd (ULCCS) as part of the Nightlife Project of the tourism department. “We gave a letter to the tourism director on Monday pointing out the Court order and by undertaking such a work the department is blatantly violating it. If they continue with the work, we will move to High Court,” said Sanjeev S J of Environment Protection and Research Council, an agency working for environmental causes. He alleged that the renovation and beautification projects were taken up by the tourism department multiple times in recent years.
“Major beautification works were implemented at Kanakakunnu in recent years. Similar projects are being again taken up which results in the wastage of public money,” he added.
Earlier, the tourism department implemented a slew of construction activities in connection with the nightlife project in the heritage grounds of Kanakakunnu Palace and the green activists moved the HC to stall the launch of nightlife at Kanakakunnu — which was one of the first locations identified by the department for launching nightlife in the state. Later, the project was implemented at Manaveeyam Veedhi.
‘contempt of court’
An existing High Court order restricts any kind of construction activities within the compound and inside the historically significant Kanakakunnu Palace
The HC issued the order in May last year following a complaint against the work undertaken by the ULCCS
Environmentalists hand over letter to tourism director against PWD work