The Hindu : Kerala / Thiruvananthapuram News : Fort residents resent move to enlarge heritage zone

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Jan 26, 2007
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Kerala

Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram

Fort residents resent move to enlarge heritage zone

Special Correspondent

Thiruvananthapuram: Residents of the Fort ward in the capital city have expressed protest against the Government proposal to notify large areas of the ward as a heritage zone. Residents' associations in the area feel it would cause untold hardships to the people.

Fort ward councillor Krishnan Potti said residents were complaining that they were already finding it difficult to carry out urgent repair and maintenance of houses owing to the regulations on construction activities in heritage zones. Bringing more areas into the zone would only aggravate the problem and complicate the process of securing permits for reconstruction and maintenance, he said.

According to Kerala Brahmana Sabha district president H. Ganesh, most of the houses in the Fort area were situated in small plots of land of area less than three cents.

While residents in other areas were entitled to exemption from building rules for small plots, those in the Fort area were forced to run from pillar to post even for maintenance and minor alterations.

Applications were routed through different agencies such as the City Corporation and the offices of the Chief Town Planner and Regional Town Planner, he said.

At a meeting held here recently, 24 residents' associations adopted a resolution urging the Government to confine the heritage zone to Sri Padmanabha Swamy Temple precincts and the palace buildings.

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