Thiruvananthapuram, Sep 28, 2004
UNI
A day after the Kerala government took over the Halcyon Castle and surrounding 4.13 hectare of land at Kovalam, the Revenue officials today sealed two more buildings in the complex that were possessed by the Gulf-based Mfar Group.

The eviction proceedings of 26 more buildings in the land taken over by the government from the hotel group had slowed down a bit today since District Collector Tinku Biswal had given 48 hours time yesterday to remove the articles.

The heritage property was in the custody of the NRI business group after it purchased the adjacent Ashoka Hotel from the ITDC under a disinvestment deal two years ago.

But the public outcry to restore the castle, built by the erstwhile Travancore Royal family, forced the government to take it over. However, the hotel group has challenged the decision in the High Court.

Meanwhile, the authorities clarified that they did not want to put hurdles on the smooth functioning of the Kovalam Hotel.