Pre-demolition notice served on residents of 5 flats built in

Civic authorities here on Tuesday issued notices to inhabitants of five apartment complexes asking them to vacate their flats in five days, to implement the Supreme Court order to demolish the structures constructed in violation of Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) notifications.

As the families living in the apartment buildings refused to accept the notice, saying they have nowhere to go if their flats were demolished, the Maradu municipal authorities affixed notices on the walls of the building informing them of its decision to implement the court order.

The authorities also warned of legal consequences if the inhabitants refused to leave.

The action comes a day after state government made it clear that the civic body has the responsibility to implement the Apex Court order.

According to officials, around 1,200 people are living in the apartments.

Tenders have been invited for demolition of flats.

Earlier, the state government had given directions to the Maradu municipality to take immediate action to evacuate inhabitants of the apartments and rehabilitate them in coordination with the Ernakulam District administration.

The district administration has said it was prepared to rehabilitate the residents of the flats.

Amid protests by the residents, the Chief Secretary had on Monday visited the sites where the buildings were located and took stock of the situation.

However, the inhabitants declined to leave their residences and urged the Chief Secretary to hear their versions.

The state government initiated steps to implement the Supreme Court order after being pulled up on Friday for non-compliance of the court order to demolish the apartment complexes.

"Your state (Kerala) is known for not following the orders of this court," a bench of justices Arun Mishra and M R Shah had said, while expressing displeasure that its May 8 order had not been complied with yet.

The top court has asked the Kerala government to comply with its order by September 20 and said if a compliance report was not filed, then the state chief secretary had to appear before it on September 23.

The apex court had in July dismissed a plea filed by the realtors, seeking a review of its May 8 order.

On May 8, the court had directed the demolition of these buildings within a month as they were constructed in a notified CRZ, which was part of the waterbody in Kerala that was known to be hit by tides.

The court had passed the order after taking note of a report of a three-member committee, which said when the buildings were built, the area was already notified as a CRZ and construction was prohibited.

The court had rejected a plea filed by the residents of the area against the demolition order and taken a strong exception to an order passed by a vacation bench during the summer break of the apex court, which had stayed the demolition of these buildings for six weeks.