kochi giving fresh hopes to residents of west kochi the kochi corporation is planning to start the construction of the muchdelayed sports complex at veli ground in fort kochi by december 2013 the local body said the state government would soon give sanction to proceed with the tendering process and construction work the corporation had asked the public works department pwd to given an estimate and the department prepared a rs 10crore project a year ago to renovate the ground construct a 400metre race track football ground pavilion and a fencing facility the corporation had also suggested setting up a collapsible galleryat the ground but the state government has been sitting on the proposal for a year without issuing technical sanctions largescale infrastructure projects have eluded west kochi due to population density its classification as a heritage zone and for topographical reasons the proposal does not involve the construction of huge concrete complexes that could damage the environment it will not be a closed structure which keeps the public away instead the focus will be on providing better sporting facilities which can be used by people as well as for statelevel meets said town planning committee chairperson and veli councillor k j sohan meanwhile pwd officials maintained they have not received any orders in this regard according to the department they are awaiting technical sanction from the state government once approval is given pwd can take up tendering process and begin construction said an assistant executive engineer the officer said the project was included in the mla local area development scheme in fact we plan to use tourism funds to execute the project he said