Maradu Municipality desperately seeking a demolition man

KOCHI: Amid uproar, the special council of the Maradu Municipality which was convened here on Monday decided to approach the state government seeking legal and technical clarity on the implementation of the Supreme Court order to raze down four apartment complexes, coming under its purview. 

“In the Supreme Court order, the state government is the first respondent and the Maradu Municipality is the second respondent. The court has only directed to bring down the structures within a period of one month from the date of judgment and file a compliance report to the court. But the order didn’t mention which authority should implement the order. We will initiate steps based on government direction,” said Maradu Municipality secretary P K Subhash. 

In its order on May 8, the apex court ordered five apartment complexes -- Holy Faith, Kayaloram, Alfa Ventures, Holiday Heritage and Jain Housing -- should be demolished within one month for violating Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) rules. The bench headed by Justice Arun Mishra had stated the state cannot bear the brunt of another flood caused by illegal construction.

As per the judgment, the deadline fixed by the court for the demolition of the apartments will end on June 8. “If the court’s directive is to be implemented, we need funds. It is a major issue. The municipality’s fund is not sufficient to meet the cost of demolition,” Subhash said adding letters to the District Collector and the Director of Urban Affairs Department, citing various issues related to the demolition, have been forwarded to the state government.

Meanwhile, the Maradu Municipality council witnessed noisy scenes on Monday when the UDF councillors came down heavily on LDF councillor T K Devassy for giving sanction for building the apartment complexes. It was during Devassy’s tenure as the president of Maradu panchayat (which later became a municipality) that the building permits were issued.