Finally, Mercy Kuttan to get house plot

KOCHI: In a face-saving exercise, the government has decided to allot suitable residential plot to Olympian Mercy Kuttan after having cancelled its earlier order allotting 11 cents of land at Kundannoor in Maradu Municipality.

Ernakulam District collector P I Sheikh Pareeth said that alternative land will be identified within a week.

"The district administration has already identified few places within the city limits, including at Kakkanad, which would be decided in consultation with Mercy Kuttan within a week," Pareeth said.

Mercy Kuttan who had a meeting with the collector on the issue on Friday, has accepted the proposal. "I have no reservations on the proposal," said Mercy Kuttan. "My request was only to allot land for constructing a house and also for the athletics academy. I am happy if suitable land is allotted. It does not matter where it is."

Meanwhile, Excise Minister and Tripunithara MLA K Babu said that the government had cancelled the earlier order only to help Mercy Kuttan to get the land at the earliest.

"The earlier land is entangled in legal issues and a case is underway in the High Court. So the government decided to find alternative land so that Mercy Kuttan does not have to run around courts to get the land," Babu said.

The land was allotted on January 6 and the same was cancelled on July 23.