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Death knell for Buckingham canal at Thangasseri
Death knell for Buckingham canal at Thangasseri
KOLLAM: Rampant reclamation activities will spell doom for the Buckingham
Canal, a 450-year-old heritage landmark at Thangasseri here. Last week, the
village officer had stopped a reclamation activity by a builder who was
constructing a flat at the adjoining plot, following protests by the
residents.
Ward councillor J Stanley, who led the protest, said
that the party concerned had reclaimed the canal and tried to construct a
compound wall, when residents informed him about the developments. Stanley said
that the real estate firms had purchased most of the land in the area.
“Even people in the neighbourhood are not aware of the
exact ownership of the properties alongside the canal. While a major portion of
it once belonged to the Kollam Diocese, some of them were sold over the years,”
he said.
The village Officer told ‘Express’ that no notice was
issued to the person concerned, as no survey stones were found in the area.
Also, the parties produced necessary permissions obtained from the Town Planning
Officer. He said that matter was reported to the Tehsildar and the Taluk Survey
Office would conduct a survey to determine the boundaries of the canal
puramboke. Incidentally, according to the revenue records, the canal is a small
stream covering an area of 42.60 cents.
“The reclamation activities are being carried out with
the connivance of a section of Revenue and Corporation officials and the
encroachers have strong political backing,” said Francis Thangasseri, a
resident. Thangasseri has become a prime residential area in the city where land
price is above Rs 5 lakh a cent, he said.
According to a survey conducted in 1980 by the Kollam
West Village Office, the canal was around 750 metres long and with a width
varying from 12 feet towards the eastern end to about 100 feet on the western
side, which is connected to the sea. What remains now is two feet to 10 feet
wide narrow stream.
In 2007, then Mayor N Padmalochanan had conducted an
on-the-spot study of the mining and reclamation activity carried out at the Fort
and Canal and had directed to issue stop memo at both sites. In spite of this, a
good portion of the canal had been reclaimed. Moreover, the Fort is a protected
monument under Archaeological Survey of India and they had put up a notice at
the Fort banning mining and construction activity within 300 metres of the
periphery of the Fort.
However, even the Fort compound has been encroached
upon over the years and a good portion of the Fort’s walls has disappeared.
The canal, located�� between the Portuguese/Dutch
cemetery and Lighthouse Road in Thangasseri and opens to the sea near the Mount
Carmel convent, dates back to the time when Thangasseri was a Portuguese/Dutch
colony.
TANGASSERI 