Corporation drive to evict lake encroachments in Kochi

Kochi: The Kochi corporation on Tuesday initiated a drive to evict all illegal encroachments along the banks of Chilavannoor lake. The nearly two acres of encroached land near Elamkulam Metro station was demarcated by a special team led by Mayor Soumini Jain. The corporation will evict nearly 78 plots in 4.5-km area from Elamkulam to Thykoodam bridge along both the banks of the lake. Many land owners have built boat jetties, gardens and compound walls on the encroached land.

Earlier, the High Court had asked the corporation authorities to conduct a survey of the lake and submit a report.

“After completing the demarcation procedures, the eviction will start without delay. No more time will be given to them. It is the extensive encroachments of water bodies which result in heavy flooding in the city,” said Soumini Jain.

There were allegations that the Kochi Metro Rail Limited had encroached on the water body, which was denied by the agency. However, the mayor declined to comment on it.

“The encroachers know that they have occupied the backwaters illegally. Hence, they have constructed only temporary structures on the land. The corporation had demarcated the encroached area a year ago and laid stones to identify boundaries. So no new notice will be served on the encroachers. The civic administration will demolish all structures in the encroached area without delay,” said a top official with the corporation’s Vyttila zonal office.

Though areas along the banks of canals and other water bodies have been extensively encroached upon, the civic authorities have failed to clear them. Earlier, a proposal was drawn out to fix the boundaries of the Edappally canal to clear encroachments, but it did not succeed.