The proposal for the construction of a memorial for former Minister and CPI(M) leader T.K. Ramakrishnan near the Ernakulam boat jetty was shot down by the Kerala Coastal Zone Management Authority (KCZMA) on Friday.
The 93rd meeting of the authority, which was held in Thiruvananthapuram, declined permission for the memorial, citing technical reasons. The request for clearance was submitted by C.N. Mohanan, a CPI(M) leader, for the T.K. Ramakrishnan Convention Centre.
The T.K. Ramakrishnan Memorial was in the news recently, with Mayor Soumini Jain suggesting that a memorial for Swami Vivekananda be set up on the holding set apart for the former. Her suggestion that the memorial for Ramakrishnan be shifted to Thripunithura, his home town, had evoked sharp response from the CPI(M). The party was of the view that the memorial for Swami Vivekananda could be constructed elsewhere, and that for Ramakrishnan shall come up at the site identified earlier.
When the proposal came up at the KCZMA meeting, some authority members demanded that the application be rejected, as the project was proposed along the building line of the boat jetty, which was an unauthorised structure. Incidentally, it was the Irrigation Department that constructed the jetty, KCZMA sources said.
The memorial was proposed in the holding, which is in Zone 2 of the Coastal Regulation Zone regime. In this category, buildings can be permitted towards the landward side and along the building line of authorised structures constructed prior to February 19, 1991, the date on which the CRZ 1991 notification was issued, KCZMA members said.
Since the boat jetty, an unauthorised structure, stood along the building line of the proposed memorial, the authority decided to reject the proposal, sources said.
The project proponent had not produced any document to prove that the jetty was constructed prior to 1991. However, the jetty is a permissible activity under the CRZ regime, sources said.
Earlier, a sub-committee of the KCZMA had reported that the proposed construction site was 38.94 metres away from the high tide line of the backwaters, and three unauthorised structures of the jetty existed there.
The CPI(M)-controlled T.K Ramakrishnan Convention Centre had proposed to construct a two-storey dormitory-cum-hall there.
