Kerala - Kochi   

Heritage bylaw of civic body to be updated soon

KOCHI: The heritage conservation bylaw of the Kochi Corporation will be updated soon.

The bylaw will be validated by including the guidelines of the Archaeological Survey of India and the existing building rules, civic authorities said here on Tuesday.

Though the Kochi Corporation council had approved the draft bylaw for the preservation of both the natural and cultural heritage of the city five years ago, the authorities had failed to enact it. The latest initiative comes at a time when the civic authorities are left with hardly one month to complete its term in office.

The officials of the southern circle of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) will lead the discussions to be held at Kochi Corporation on Tuesday. Experts in heritage conservation, civic representatives, officials of the town planning, engineering and revenue department of the Kochi Corporation will attend the deliberations. The workshop is jointly hosted by the Town Planning Standing Committee and Centre for Heritage Environment and Development of the Kochi Corporation.

The draft legislation passed by the council was more of general in nature. It needs to be customised to make it Kochi specific. Any proposals in the draft law, which contravene with the existing laws and heritage conservation guidelines, will have to go, said an expert in the area.

The draft law touches upon the tangible and intangible heritage as well as natural heritage of the city. The natural heritage of the city, which was dominated by the wetlands and water bodies, has undergone tremendous changes over the past century. The extent of water bodies and wetlands has been reduced to around 30 per cent of its original area. Most of the development activities that came up in Kochi were also at the expense of water bodies and wetlands, said a heritage conservationist.

The officials of the Kochi Corporation will be sensitised regarding the heritage issues that they have to keep in mind will considering applications for construction and modification of structures in the city, he said.

Incidentally, the corporation had identified the violation of heritage guidelines in the Fort Kochi heritage zone. A large number of structures had come up in the area with scant regard to the guidelines. The issue of illegal constructions in the zone will be discussed at the meeting, said E.M. Sunilkumar, chairman of the Town Planning Standing committee of the corporation.

A fine balance needs to be evolved between the development needs of the city and conservation of heritage, he said.

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