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Kerala-Thiruvananthapuram
By Our Staff Reporter
Freedom fighters and representatives of political parties, residents' associations and Gandhian organisations participated in the debate, which concluded with a broad consensus on the design of the park. The proposed food court will be scaled down to a snack bar. There will be no change in the location of the statue or the construction of the comfort stations, the two issues that have been highlighted by the Congress, it was decided. A majority of the participants spoke out against the politicisation of the issue and the stir by the Congress. Several speakers demanded that the statue of Mahatma Gandhi be restored to its original position facing the Sree Padmanabha Swamy temple. The comfort stations should be relocated away from the stage, they said. The Tourism Department, which is implementing the project, has promised to complete the work and hand over the park to the Corporation before Gandhi Jayanthi on October 2. The Tourism Secretary, T. Balakrishnan, said the park had been designed with the statue of Gandhi as the focal point. Regarding the allegations of irregularities in the project, he said the department had observed all the norms and procedures in tendering the work. "The initial estimate of Rs.1.3 crores had been brought down to Rs.48 lakhs after renegotiations." He said a number of modifications had been made to the initial design after detailed consultation with people's representatives and organisations. Mr. Balakrishnan explained that the statue of Mahatma Gandhi had been re-positioned so as to face the audience. He said the toilets could be demolished and shifted at a later stage, if public opinion so demanded. The freedom fighter, K.E. Mammen, demanded that the comfort stations be shifted away from the stage. Referring to the agitation against the project, he said the issue was being misused for "factional politics". Mr. Mammen criticised the Congress for boycotting the meeting. He suggested that the renovated park be restricted to programmes reflecting Gandhian culture. The CPI(M) council party leader, K.C. Vikraman, said the project had become a casualty of the "bitter" factional feud within the Congress. He said the design of the park had been discussed with party leaders and approved unanimously by the Corporation Council. Ramdas of the Gandhi Peace Foundation suggested that a bookstall be set up on Gandhian literature within the park. The PDP councillor, Poonthura Siraj, said the "haste" with which the project was pushed through had given rise to apprehensions about irregularities and wastage of public money. He alleged that the local MLAs and other elected representatives had not been consulted before launching the project. The general secretary of the Federation of Residents Associations, Thiruvananthapuram (FRAT), Punchakary Ravi, alleged that the controversy over the project smacked of a bid to torpedo the development of the city. The Manacaud ward councillor, Chalai Mohanan, the Citizens Protection Forum and the Janata Dal district committee demanded that a statue of the former Chief Minister, Pattom Thanu Pillai, be installed in the park.
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