The Greater Cochin Development Authority (GCDA) has contested the order issued towards the fag end of the Left Democratic Front (LDF) government, allotting 88 cents of land adjoining the Jawaharlal Nehru International Stadium at Kaloor to St. Albert’s College.
Addressing a press conference here on Wednesday (May 13, 2026), GCDA chairperson K. Chandran Pillai asserted that the Revenue department lacked the authority to allot land belonging to the GCDA, and that too without consulting the agency. He said the government order dated March 15, 2026, had also weakened the ongoing case being fought by the GCDA in a munsif court against an injunction secured by the college to prevent construction of a compound wall on the said 88 cents.
The college was originally allocated 1.89 hectares in 1983 to be used as a playground without a lease. Later, when the GCDA acquired 32 acres around that parcel for the construction of the stadium in the 1990s, the college authorities reportedly sought an alternative parcel of land, reasoning that the existing leased plot was shapeless and unsuitable as a playground. The GCDA conceded the request and allotted 135 cents on the condition that it would also be made available for stadium needs.
