Green clearance for cancer centre soon.

The State Expert Appraisal Committee (SEAC) will shortly issue environment clearance for the Cochin Cancer Research Centre (CCRC) at Kalamassery.

After a site visit, a sub-committee of the SEAC met the project proponent and others concerned to highlight the modifications in the plan for the centre. Suggestions for introducing a few modifications in the plan to make it more people-friendly and environment-friendly were also made, SEAC sources said.

The SEAC will issue its clearance in a day or two. The recommendation of the SEAC would come up before the State-Level Environment Impact Assessment Authority, sources said.

The suggestions that were raised had been incorporated in the plan submitted again for environment clearance, said District Collector K. Mohammed Y. Safirullah, who is also the special officer of CCRC on which phase II work is set to begin next month.

The suggestions were to make the approach road to CCRC more smoother. As the Government Medical College and the CCRC share boundaries, it was suggested that the entrance be made larger that is inclusive of both institutions.

Another suggestion was to provide better water harvesting facility at the centre.

There were also suggestions on the alignment of certain buildings in the medical college too.

CCRC, which has an administrative sanction of ₹395 crore for the second phase, is expected to start work on the 373-bed project that will have a total area of 5.3 lakh square feet.

THE HINDU