A drive that was cut short midway

KOCHI: The year was 2007 and there was utter chaos on MG Road. Amidst a lot of hue and cry, the encroachments on one of the priciest areas in Kochi were being cleared. But halfway, the enthusiasm fizzled out and now the stretch reportedly contains over 250 encroachments.The eviction drive on illegal encroachments, which earned equal amounts of frowns and applauds from Kochiites, was spearheaded by the-then District Collector A P M Mohammed Hanish as part of the state’s anti-encroachment policy. “MG Road, which was earlier known as the ‘70-ft Road,’ had narrowed down so drastically and till then, the government was seemingly oblivious to the encroachments on the stretch,” Hanish told Express. “That is why we conducted an accurate digital survey and field measurement of the area and evicted all the encroachments with the help of the Corporation, the Revenue Department and the police,” he added. “The encroachments up to Shenoy’s Junction had to be removed forcefully with the help of JCBs. But after that people got the point and started removing the encroachments themselves. Although there was tremendous public support, some sections of society objected and got court orders against the eviction drive,” said Hanish. “The original plan was to launch the drive 1`from Madhavan pharmacy till the Shipyard. But when the drive reached the Pallimukku junction, a lot of people procured stay orders from the court and that was a major speed-breaker to the drive,” said K P Mohandas Pillai, the-then RDO. Architect Gopakumar, who was commissioned to design the beautification of the MG Road, said he had acted on government directives and that he submitted the design to the authorities concerned but nothing much happened after that. “Only those buildings which had been damaged during the eviction drive were repaired, no other major beautification happened,” he said. “The space for Metro Rail was incorporated in the design itself,” Gopakumar added.  Asked whether the issue of public outcry will affect the current MG Road beautification project, Hanish said that  since the Metro Rail project has been accepted by the people now, the implementation will be comparatively easy for the authorities concerned.