The civic body had slapped a fine of Rs 1.17 crore for constructing structures in the Lake Palace Resort beyond the permissible limit and rejected the Kerala government's request to reduce the fine amount
Alappuzha: Municipal council in Alappuzha district of Kerala on Wednesday rejected the state government's request to reduce the fine slapped on Lake Palace Resort, owned by former minister Thomas Chandy. The civic body had slapped a fine of Rs 1.17 crore for constructing structures in the resort beyond the permissible limit.
As per sources, the municipality's investigation found that 22 buildings were constructed on the resort campus violating the building rules. And 10 buildings were constructed without the local body’s permission.
Initially, the municipality had slapped a fine of Rs 2.73 crore on former Kerala transport minister Thomas Chandy for the illegal construction of Lake Palace Resort and the resort submitted an application for regularising unauthorised constructions.
The resort owner also paid the fine for 10 buildings. Later, the resort submitted relevant documents of six structures. Following this, the municipality slashed the penalty to Rs 1.17 crore. At the same time, Lake Palace Resort authority reported to the state government that the finding of the municipality is wrong.
After this, the state government suggested that the fine imposed on the resort be reduced to Rs 34 lakh. Meanwhile, the council observed that the state government has no right to intervene in the matter and the resort owner could file an appeal before the tribunal for local self-government institutions against the decision of the municipality.
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