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– Photo: H. Vibhu

Bleak future? The office of the Greater Cochin Development Authority.

Yet another bout of discussions were triggered early this month by reports that the State government had finally decided to bring the axe down, as local bodies assumed their rightful place in the scheme of democratic administration under the 73rd and 74th amendments to the Constitution (Panchayati Raj Nagar Palika Bills).

As initial reactions died down, there were explanations that the government was just taking stock of the assets owned by the authority. But the larger questions raised by the latest developments in Ernakulam district remain.

The decision (to wind up GCDA) comes at a time when Kochi so badly needs an institution to guide its growth.

About Rs.25,000 crore of investments are at its doorsteps and the government decides to disband the GCDA, said K. Babu, MLA, and president of the Greater Cochin Development Authority Staff Association.

He called on every right thinking person to oppose the move and alleged that only the ‘land mafia’ would gain from such a move as GCDA was still one of the biggest landlords in Ernakulam district owning prime acreage.

Has the GCDA done anything? It is not equipped, and has so been for several years, to meet the planning needs of the City, said C. K. Manishankar, Kochi Deputy Mayor.

His grievances against the GCDA are many. The most important one was that GCDA was instrumental in destroying the landscape of Kochi, the authority being the first one to build along the lake shore cutting off scenic views on what is now Marine Drive. The present walkway was built after much protest, he said.

K. Balanchandran, former Chairman of GCDA and an ardent critic of some of the models set by GCDA, said that sufficient powers should be given to the institution to make it effective as a statutory body.

It should not become a rent-collecting agency but should play the role of a planner, coordinator and supervisor, he said.

A senior official in the Town Planning Department says that if GCDA is kept alive it should be with proper powers so that it can do something to guide the comprehensive development of the Ernakulam district, nearly 80 per cent of which fall under the development plans set by the Authority.

GCDA does not have the power to do anything. As of now it can make suggestions to the local bodies such as the Corporations, municipalities and panchayats.

If this is a problem of GCDA’s realm of administrative authority, internally, the Authority is beset by an acute shortage of staff. There is no staff pattern or staff gradation. The post of Chief Planner is out and GCDA operates with a Senior Town Planner. How can an agency so short of hands work, asks the Town Planning Department official.

Prof. Antony Isaac, ex-Chairman of GCDA said that the move by the Left Democratic government and its timing gave rise to suspicions as to the intentions of the government.

He said that it was a sad moment for the city and for an institution that had great potential. GCDA was involved in the creation of every landmark in Kochi said Prof. Isaac, in whose term as its Chairman GCDA overcame a crisis over repayment of loans to Syndicate Bank and Housing Development Finance Corporation.

The crisis was resolved through sale of GCDA land and the Authority now owed money to nobody, said Prof. Isaac. In fact, he said, it was a development body that had placed no burden on the government exchequer.

Does merely being financially independent qualify it to stand up as an institution? The original idea with which GCDA was constituted was good, said George E. George of Kerala Builders’ Forum, representing the interests of the building industry in the State.

The very intention of setting up a development agency is to identify new areas and to facilitate new development, he said. Except in the case of Panampally Nagar, GCDA was not able to do anything. It could, for example, have developed Kakkanad as a planned centre.

At the same time, a rapidly growing place like Kochi needs a planning agency after the model of metropolitan authorities, he said.

The confusion over the role of GCDA and the gradual shrinking of its presence in planning a greater and more sustainable Kochi has come about apparently through a lack of vision on the part of successive governments.

Several States in the country vested statutory authority with what were formerly various urban development authorities. Successive Kerala governments just glossed over the need for long-term planning of urban centres in the State.

GCDA was established under the Madras Town Planning Act and Travancore Town Planning Act. Even then its role was not fully defined because no one appeared to have understood what was GCDA’s standing in the light of the 1973-74 Constitutional amendment.

What is needed is a revision of the Town Planning Act which can define the role of GCDA.

A senior Government official said that as per the Municipal Act, Corporations or local bodies could notify development schemes. The situation could lead to a clash over development schemes as it had happened in the past.

It is an interesting piece of history that Kerala government began planning for the proper development of Kochi way back in the 1960s. Cochin Town Planning Trust was formed in 1968. A Kochi-centre regional development plan was evolved too.

The development area comprised 732 sq.km and included the Corporation of Cochin, municipalities of Aluva, North Paravoor, Perumbavoor, Angamaly, Kalamssery and Thripunithura and a host of village panchayats.

However, in 1994 when Goshree Islands Development Authority was formed for the development of Vypeen and its neighbouring Islands, the area under GCDA was reduced to 632 sq.km.

The reduction in the area under GCDA was perhaps symbolic of the decline in its status over the years, a fact that stands out at a time when the Queen of the Arabian Sea was poised for unprecedented development.

Only an efficient institution, vested with sufficient powers can ensure that Kochi develops into a modern, sustainable urban centre.

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