Kerala Cricket Association gets notice for felling mangroves

Weeks after they celebrated the BCCI nod to the Kochi IPL team, a bad news awaits Kerala cricket fans. The ministry of environment and forest (MOEF) issued show cause notice to the Kerala Cricket Association (KCA) on Tuesday for allegedly felling mangroves to construct an international cricket stadium.

The ministry cited a report by its Bangalore regional office that accused KCA of violating environmental rules by destroying mangroves in the Coastal Regulation Zone-I (CRZ-I) at Parambimoola near Edakochi of Ernakulam district, for construction of the stadium.

According to the report, the site has backwater systems and till September 3, 2010, there were mangroves which were allegedly removed by September 22.

In its notice, the Union environment ministry asked the KCA chairman to take “appropriate action” in accordance with the provisions of the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986, under the powers delegated to the Kerala coastal zone management authority (KCZMA) for violation of the CRZ Notification, 1991, by KCA. The association has been asked to submit the report within 15 days.