Giving an ultimatum to demolish the four apartment buildings in Kochi built violating Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) norms, the Supreme Court on Friday said that buildings should be demolished by 20 September, Friday.
The bench headed by Justice Arun Mishra has also directed the chief secretary of the state to present the demolition report directly to the court on 23 September, Monday.
While four of the apartment buildings – Holy Faith, Kayaloram, Alfa Ventures and Jain Housing – are occupied by residents, one is yet to be constructed.
It was ordered that the apartments should be demolished within one month from the date of the verdict. There are about 400 residents living in these four apartment buildings.
Though multiple writ petitions and review petitions were filed by multiple residents and builders of the apartments, the apex court stuck to its order.
In July, Maradu municipality had started to estimate how much it will cost to demolish the buildings.
On the request of the local body, the state government had also appointed an expert team to look into the environmental hazards that will be caused during the demolition of the buildings situated on the banks of Kochi’s backwaters.
But Justice Arun Mishra, who gave the initial verdict to demolish the flats, had come down heavily on the petitioners and counsels citing that they played fraud on the court by going to the vacation bench in the case.
The state government had also taken a firm stand in the case by saying that the concerned local body should initiate demolition procedures.
(The article was originally published on The News Minute)
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