District councils set to identify coastal rules violation.

Kochi:  The district committees, tasked to identify illegal construction on coastal areas following Supreme Court order on Maradu flats, have started their works.

The committee is working under the state environment department in ten coastal districts including Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam, Alapuzha, Kottayam, Ernakulum, Thrissur, Malappuram, Kannur and Kasaragod.

The Supreme Court earlier ordered the state government to identify and submit a list of coastal rule violations. A preliminary assessment identified about 1800 illegally constructed buildings along coastal areas.  The committee is tasked to fully identify such violations.

The first interim report of the committee—formed including District collector as chairman, district town planner as convener, secretary of local self-government, village officer of coastal villages, and also members suggested by the collector—would have to submit report to Chief Secretary on October 31. The second report should be submitted before November 30 and the final one falls before December 20.

Each district collector has to gather suggestions and opinions of the general public before December 31.

The final report combining all these information should be submitted to the government before January 12, 2020.  Based on this report, the government would file the report on coastal rule violations to the Supreme Court.