With the Maradu apartment owners refusing to vacate their homes, the Maradu municipality has asked Kerala Sate Electricity Board (KSEB) and other service providers to disconnect their supply lines.
KSEB has been asked to snap the power supply before September 27, said the notice. Incidentally, it will be on that day the Supreme Court will pronounce its order in the case.
The municipality will also serve notices on Wednesday on other utility service providers such as the Kerala Water Authority, Hindustan Petroleum Corporation, Indian Oil Corporation, Bharat Petroleum Corporation, and Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited to sever the supply lines.
The notice issued by the Maradu municipal secretary M. Ariff Mohammad Khan has asked the agencies to remove all accessories related to their services and to ensure the safe demolition of the buildings in a time-bound manner. City police will also be kept in the loop.
The move comes in the wake of the Supreme Court expressing its displeasure at the government not complying with the demolition order.
The notices will be served on the service providers of Alfa Serene, Holy Faith H2O, Jain Coral Cove and Golden Kayaloram. The snapping of service lines is viewed as a tactical step towards forcing the apartment owners to leave the homes and thus averting a law and order situation.
The Local Self-Government Department will deploy a team of senior officials led by its Chief Engineer to assist the municipality to plan the demolition and scrutinise the Expression of Interest submitted by the firms. The police had been asked to book cases against the builders, who put up the illegal structures, sources said.
Eviction of the residents was a highly sensitive issue for the authorities concerned as a few apartment owners had threatened to end their lives if forced out of their homes. The administrators apprehended that any use of force against the residents would snowball into a law and order issue in the area. Incidentally, the deadline for the apartment owners to leave their homes had ended on September 15.