Collector can order closure of buildings not conforming with safety parameters
The district administration is gearing up to crack down on high rise buildings in the city functioning with scant regard for fire safety measures. District Collector P.I. Sheikh Pareed told The Hindu that suo motu inspections will be carried out randomly in high rise buildings to verify whether they conformed to the mandatory fire safety parameters. The District Collector can order the closure of buildings not confirming with safety parameters invoking his authority as Executive Magistrate.
Acquiring land for the Kochi metro-rail project is all set to get an impetus, with former District Collector A. P. M. Mohammed Hanish being appointed as the Special Officer for land acquisition. He will continue to be the MD of Roads and Bridges Development Corporation of Kerala. The State government has entrusted Mr. Hanish with the task of hastening the pace of land acquisition.
‘Those handling food in hotels have to disinfect hands as per standard procedure’
The Arabian delicacy shawarma can be the carrier of toxin producing Staphylococcus bacteria if handled carelessly, said M. K. Mukundan, an expert on food safety and director of the Konni-based Council for Food Research and Development. The food item remains banned following the death of a Thiruvananthapuram-based youngster owing to food poisoning allegedly after consuming a shawarma.
Few other divisions of the Kochi Corporation have as many infrastructure projects lined up as the Vyttila division.
Vyttila is the biggest junction in the State and is home to the inter-modal mobility hub. A railway halt is expected at the adjacent Ponnurunni, so that Vyttila can lay claim to being a hub for road, metro-rail, railway and waterway transport. These peculiarities have together led to a steep increase in number of vehicles and pedestrians passing through the junction.
Sewerage and sanitation projects proposed for Kochi have been hit by a fund crunch and hold up of policy decision making.
The Kochi Corporation had earlier drawn up plans for setting up two projects in the city, one for central city and another one for the West Kochi areas. In both cases, the delay in implementing them had resulted in cost escalation, and the civic body is finding the going tough. The existing sewerage system of Kochi covers hardly five per cent of the total city area. The scheme was originally implemented in the early ’50s when Kochi was a municipality. The sewerage system has not progressed an inch since then, said a civic administrator.
Food Safety authorities, district health officials serve closure notices on 36 hotels in district
Different agencies are on an all-out offensive against hotels that do not keep their backyards tidy. On their part, the hoteliers are complaining that they struggle to keep their hearths burning. Food Safety authorities and district health officials served closure notices to 36 hotels in different parts of the district, including eight hotels in the Goshree area alone.
Over two hundred farmers affiliated to an apolitical forum, Tamizhaga Vivasayigal Sangam, staged a demonstration here on Wednesday to protest against the Gas Authority of India Limited’s (GAIL) choice of farmland in the district to lay gas pipeline to take natural gas from Kochi to Bangalore.
The gas pipeline project of GAIL passes through 16 revenue villages in Krishnagiri district for a stretch of 47 km. As per the plan of GAIL, the pipeline work enters Krishnagiri district in Royakottai from Palacode in Dharmapuri district.
Kochi Metro Rail Ltd’s director board would be reconstituted, following which the new board would take all decisions related to the construction of the metro rail.
Electricity and Transport Minister Aryadan Mohammed on Tuesday said that the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) will execute the Kochi metro rail project work. Addressing a press conference soon after the last director board meeting of Kochi Metro Rail Ltd, in its current format, Mr. Mohammed said the Cabinet had in the month of March decided that the construction work should be bestowed on the DMRC.
Urban development minister Kamal Nath on Monday made it clear that the work on Kochi Metro will be entrusted with the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC).
Talking to the media here, the minister said the metro work would be carried out by the DMRC. He, however, left it to the state government and the DMRC to take a decision on how to make use of the service of DMRC former managing director E Sreedharan, for the state’s dream project.
