The Supreme Court has ordered the demolition of five waterfront buildings housing more than 400 dwelling units in Kochi for violation of Coastal Regulatory Zone rules. The authorities have been asked to raze the buildings located on the banks of the scenic Vembanad Lake and file a compliance report within a month. While that’s unlikely to happen anytime soon as builders and flat owners will certainly explore further legal options to stall the punitive action, the question remains how these buildings were allowed to come up in the first place. One of the buildings to be demolished is under construction, but four others are fully ready and families have been living there for a couple of years now.

The story of these buildings is the story of unregulated development in cities across India. It’s the tactics that builders adopt and the nefarious nexus between them and officials that allow such buildings to be constructed. Here, violation of norms is the norm, greed is the motivation and a corrupt system the perfect facilitator. The practice has become so systematised that builders know they can get away with any kind of violation. It’s people who buy from them, spending hard-earned money, who end up paying the price.

Take the case of the buildings in Kochi that have been ordered to be razed. All were constructed with the knowledge and permission of the local body concerned. Despite irregularities in grant of permission being unearthed during the construction stage itself, the buildings were allowed to come up, with local authorities, government bodies and courts playing the facilitators, directly or indirectly.

The people who bought apartments in the buildings had no role to play. Yet, it is they who are affected the most by the SC order. Having said that, the rule of law must prevail and the buildings must go if there is indeed violation of rules. At the same time, officials who granted permission and allowed construction, and builders, primarily responsible for the misery of hundreds of families, must be handed out exemplary punishment.