A row has been kicked up by Greater Cochin Devel-opment Authority chairman N. Venugopal’s allegation that some of the major projects visualised by the Authority as part of the Vision 2030 progra-mme, have been hijacked for the Emerging Kerala meet without his consent.
Rebutting Venugopal’s allegations, excise minister K. Babu retorted GCDA was part of the government and there was no need to get any special permission to present its projects at the Emerging Kerala summit.
“GCDA is not an elected body and is governed by government-nominated re-presentatives. So any prior permission from its chairman is unnecessary for showcasing the projects at the investors’ meet,” the minister said.
He was talking to media persons on the sidelines of the development seminar organised by the city corporation here on Tuesday.
“It is not a project to sell off the land and water of the state to corporate inve-stors. No project will be implemented without EIA study.
The controversies are baseless and those behind it might be ignorant about the meet and its objectives,” he added.
Meanwhile, Venugopal has made it clear that the issue will be brought to the attention of the chief minister.
“The project proposals have been published on the website of Emerging Kerala without any discussion with the Authority. The original project proposals have been watered down for the investors’ conclave,” alleged the GCDA chairman.