Kochi: A controversy has erupted over Traffic and Transportation research institute NATPAC shifting its office headquarters to a building that was already served a notice for violating Kerala Conservation of Paddy Land and Wetland Act.
A majority of staff in the agency has come out in the open opposing the direction to shift all offices of NATPAC (National Transportation Planning and Research Centre) from Sasthra Bhavan, Pattom, to ‘Campus Building’, Aakulam, in the capital city by August 30, citing the legal tangle.
“A stop memo was issued to the three-storey building at Aakulam by then Deputy Collector (Land Revenue) in 2014 for violating the Kerala Conser-vation of Paddy Land and Wetland Act, 2008. The matter is still entangled in legal troubles and the building could be razed in the near future,” sources said.
Upon the headquarters being shifted to Aakulam, the building needed to be upgraded further to accommodate the 150-odd staff. Currently, over 60 staff work in the campus building which also houses a number of research facilities like Highway Engineering, Environmental, Water Quality Laboratories and Hazardous Drivers Training Centre among others.
“The facilities have to be stopped if the office headquarters staff, numbering around 150, has to be accommodated at Aakulam. Also no new construction is possible, least basic amenities like boundary wall or car parking due to the CRZ norms,” the sources said.
However, it is learnt Dr K.P. Sudheer, executive vice-president of the Kerala State Council for Science, Technology and Environment (KSCSTE), under which NATPAC comes, has directed for shifting of the NATPAC headquarters by August 30. The official could not be reached for comments despite several attempts.
Currently, the headquarters is functioning in fifth and sixth floors of eight-storey Sasthra Bhavan building at Pattom.
