Tall & Urban News

The Supreme Court of India has ordered the demolition of over 350 flats in five coastal apartment complexes in Kerala by September 20 for violation of Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) rules.

In the aftermath of last year’s massive Kerala floods, on 8 May 2019 the Supreme Court ordered the demolition of all illegal structures built on the notified CRZ at Maradu. It said that the state cannot approve illegal constructions in the light of the danger of floods and heavy rains.

The permission to construct the buildings was granted in 2006 when Maradu was a Panchayat (it was upgraded to the level of municipality in 2010).

On 10 June 2019, during the vacation of the apex court, justices from another bench stayed demolition for six weeks after considering the writ petition filed by a group of residents, who claimed that their arguments were not heard by the top court while pronouncing the demolition in May.

On 5 July, the apex court declared that senior counsels engaged by the petitioners had played fraud. “That Bench should not have entertained the matter at all,” said Justice Arun Mishra, targeting the senior advocates who appeared in the matter.

On Tuesday, 3 September 2019, the local Maradu municipality issued notices to the residents to vacate their apartments within five days, to enable the demolition.

The apartment owners filed another plea to the Supreme Court, but the apex court had already indicated that it would not accommodate any more petitions. The five buildings facing demolition are by developers Holy Faith (H20), Kayaloram, Alfa Ventures (Alfa Serene), Holiday Heritage and Jain Housing (Jains Coral Cove).

The apartment owners’ hopes have faded further, with the municipality releasing advertisements calling for tenders to demolish the five buildings. They are likely to be demolished by a controlled implosion, supervised by an expert team.

For more on this story go to Gulf News.