Nearly 15 firms have responded to the international competitive tenders floated by the Kerala State Housing Board in August to find a consultant for the technical and commercial evaluation of the eco-township project proposed on its prime land at Marine Drive in Kochi.

The firms have been told to submit expressions of interest, along with the technical and the commercial bids. The project, together with those in Thiruvananthapuaram and other locations, is expected to take the board’s growth into a new direction.

A. Rahmatulla, Chairman of the board, told The Hindu that the valuation of the bids would be completed in about a fortnight’s time. The project would come up on 17.9 acres (one acre = 0.4 hectare) of land under a joint venture or a public-private partnership through a special purpose vehicle.

Feasibility study

The consultant will prepare a techno-commercial feasibility study for the development and the commercial exploitation of the property. The board expects an upfront fee of at least Rs.260 crore and a minimum investment of Rs.1,000 crore.

The consultant is expected to do a market study and a demand assessment, prepare a conceptual design conforming to the rules and regulations, form the special purpose vehicle and select development partners through an international competitive bidding.

Mr. Rahmatulla denied the allegation that the project would harm the environs of the Mangalavanam bird sanctuary, saying the property is further away from the sanctuary than many other high-rise buildings that had come up in its proximity.

The board, he said, has made it amply clear in the call for expression of interest that the developer should consider the ecological aspects of the project as a priority.

The invitation for expression of interest said: “The development shall be with utmost consideration for the ecology of the Mangalavanam Bird Sanctuary.”

The board has said that there are several high-rise buildings, many with more than 10 storeys, in the vicinity of Mangalavanam and objecting to the board’s project alone sounds harsh.

Mr. Rahmatulla said the work on the project would begin only after the mandatory clearances were obtained.

M.K. Prasad, environmentalist and former president of the Kerala Sastra Sahitya Parishad, has said that the project will be detrimental to Mangalavanam, considered the lungs of Kochi.

The combine of trade unions at the board has said that the board is aware of the concerns expressed in the media and the ecological aspects of the project will be considered.

In a press statement, the trade union leaders alleged that vested interests might be behind spreading unfounded concerns over the project.

They drew attention to the board’s services in providing affordable houses to the poor. However, the board had run into financial difficulties for various reasons, such as the recent writing off of the dues. Strengthening of the board was imperative to meet the housing requirements of the economically weaker sections.

With this view, they said, the State government, in the budget for 2009-10, proposed a project on the Marine Drive property and such other lands. Sufficient thought has already gone into the ecological aspects.

The project is among the several envisaged by the board, which is looking to revive its fortunes.

The proposal is for the development of around 100 acres of its land spread across the State. The projects are envisaged to bring in investments of more than Rs.2,000 crore.

The projects include those planned at Kaloor in Kochi, at Akkulam, near Thiruvananthapuram, in Kozhikode and in Thrissur.
News Published Under:  The Hindu