A division bench of the Kerala High Court has directed the state government to issue a draft notification under Chapter VIII of the Kerala Town and Country Planning Act, 2016, to exclude areas near Kundanur from the industrial zone under Maradu municipality. Changes have been made to the master plan.
The bench also directed the municipality to place a copy of its resolution passed on March 20, seeking exclusion of the area from industrial zone, before the chief town planner and the government, which would complete the process within three weeks. Needed
The court ordered the government to take steps to publish the draft nomination and seek objections within a further period of sixty days, and if no objections are received, the entire process should be completed in two months.
The bench passed the order allowing the appeal filed by Maradu municipality against the judgment of a single judge recently refusing to renew the building permit issued to a construction company for construction of an apartment complex. The judge passed the order on the ground that in view of the approved master plan, construction of residential apartments of more than 300 square meters cannot be permitted in the industrial area.
It was brought to the notice of the court that only a few industrial units existed in the area, and that the area had already been converted into a non-industrial area. Furthermore, the master plan was approved as early as 1981, and was revised in 2007. Furthermore, the municipality passed a resolution demanding the exclusion of the area from the industrial zone.