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The Hindu
a day ago
- Politics
- The Hindu
Kochi Corporation to examine complaints about draft electoral rolls
The Kochi Corporation has initiated measures to examine complaints about the draft electoral rolls. Field officers will examine complaints about the en masse shifting of voters from their divisions to other divisions. A report based on the examination will be published on the Election Commission website. Hearings on complaints received till now will start on July 31. Hearings will be held on complaints lodged through Akshaya centres on enlisting names, corrections in names and addresses, change of divisions, and deleting the names of voters who are either dead or no longer reside in the divisions concerned. Councillors had raised complaints about the draft electoral rolls. Call for nuns' release The Corporation council on Tuesday passed a resolution calling for the release of the two nuns arrested in Chhattisgarh. The resolution moved by Left Democratic Front (LDF) councillor George Nanatt was passed by the council. While the United Democratic Front (UDF) councillors backed the resolution, the BJP councillors opposed it. The BJP councillors were reportedly offended at the demand that the Central government intervene to get the nuns released and punish the guilty even as they sought its removal from the resolution. They argued that the Centre could not do anything beyond the law. LDF and UDF councillors opposed that stand. LDF councillor V.A. Sreejith said that the Centre had the responsibility to intervene. Councillor P.R. Raneesh quoted from the book Bunch of Thoughts written by M.S. Golwalkar in his reply to the BJP councillors. He said that the book dubbed Christians as enemies, and that they would be dealt with accordingly. The UDF demanded a ban on the Bajrang Dal. Mayor M. Anilkumar sought to know on what grounds the Centre's interventions should not be demanded. He said that the attack against nuns had ramifications in national politics.
The Hindu
19-07-2025
- Business
- The Hindu
First phase of Shanthipuram colony redevelopment to get under way soon
The first-phase redevelopment of Shanthipuram Colony, housing 197 families in Division 44 of the Kochi Corporation, is set to get under way soon. The project will follow the concept of Pocket Homes, an innovative social housing project designed to optimise space and foster community engagement along a linear axis. Unlike conventional housing layouts, Pocket Homes utilise the linear axis by pushing houses inward alternatively creating pockets of spaces along the street to maximise land utilisation and promote social interaction. The Shanthipuram Colony redevelopment plan drawn up by Architect Engineering College of Asadi Group proposes blocks of eight houses at the rate of four houses on three cents each, with each family having title deeds for 0.75 cents. The existing houses, which are more than four decades old, remain rickety and stand cheek by jowl. 'Giving them [residents] safe housing has been a long-term goal of the Corporation and was declared in our budget. Each house entails a cost of ₹10 lakh, though the Corporation cannot provide more than ₹4 lakh to each family under the Life Mission. Neither could we use other funds for the purpose. Finding the remaining ₹6 lakh for each has been the challenge before the Corporation,' said Mayor M. Anilkumar. Bharat Petroleum Limited-Kochi Refinery and Shobha Group had pledged corporate social responsibility funds of ₹1 crore and ₹50 lakh respectively following which the first phase of redevelopment was announced. Division councillor George Nanatt, who has been at the forefront of the redevelopment of the colony, said that in the initial phase, 16 houses would be completed in the next three to six months to convince the beneficiaries that the project was indeed up and running. 'The major hurdle is that most families have pawned their 0.75 cents for a few lakhs and are not in a position to immediately repay the loan and retrieve the title deeds. The construction cannot be launched unless the title deeds are available either. So, to kick-start the project, houses will be built on land of which the title deeds are available,' he said.
