The Hindu : Kerala / Kochi News : GCDA to raise funds for land bank project

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Jun 01, 2004

Kerala

Kerala - Kochi

GCDA to raise funds for land bank project

By Our Staff Reporter

KOCHI, MAY 31. The Greater Cochin Development Authority (GCDA) is working on a detailed proposal for raising funds for its land bank project. The new proposal is expected to be presented before the State Government next week.

The Government asked the GCDA to furnish more details regarding the project when it sought permission for initiating development work at a 25-acre plot at Kunnukara, near Athani, as the plot falls outside the territorial jurisdiction of the Authority. The project was mooted as part of its drive to extend developmental activities to the suburbs.

The plot was officially handed over to the Authority on April 16 to develop it over a period of 15 months.

Meanwhile, the proposal to start work on the 70-acre plot at Edayakunnu, near Chittoor, has been approved. The plot is now owned by 40-odd people and the Authority should verify the title documents presented by each of these owners before taking over the plot. This process is expected to take at least 30 days more.

The Government should also fix the price for the land, which would be used as a benchmark while negotiating with the owners, said the GCDA Chairman, Antony Isaac.

It has been suggested that the main hurdle in developing this plot would be clearing the wild foliage and preventing the reptiles in the area from moving out to the neighbourhood. The plot is just about 6.5 km from Kacheripadi and less than 4 km from Edappally. This area has been lying neglected for more than 10 years leading to its present condition.

It is expected that the GCDA might have to invest about Rs.5 crores to develop the land into a residential area on the lines of Panampilly Nagar. The Authority will serve as a nodal agency in the development and selling of the plots and will get 10 per cent of the price for which the developed plots are sold.

Flyovers: The Authority has also decided to speed up the preparatory work on the proposal to build four flyovers along the National Highway. It had earlier allocated Rs.10 lakhs each in its annual budget for the construction of flyovers at Kundanoor, Vytilla, Pipeline Junction and Edappally.

The ambitious project of building the City Centre flyover, which starts from the Jawaharlal Nehru International Stadium and ends at the High Court Junction, would be taken up during the next phase. The suggestion to extend this flyover up to Edappally might be considered at this point, it is learnt.

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