Steps to implement SC order on demolition taken: Kerala govt

The Kerala government on Monday initiated steps to implement the Supreme Court order to demolish five apartment complexes constructed at Kochi's Maradu in violation of Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) notifications.

"The state government has the responsibility to implement the Supreme Court order. The government will implement the order," state Chief Secretary Tom Jose told reporters after meeting officials in the Ernakulam district administration and the Maradu municipal authorities here.

The government had given directions to the Maradu municipality to take immediate action to evacuate the inhabitants in the apartments and rehabilitate them in coordination with the district collector.

Maradu municipal authorities said they were ready to implement the apex court but it could not meet the huge amount of money required to carry out the order.

They sought financial support from the state government for executing the order.

According to officials, an approximate amount of Rs 30 crore was required to demolish the apartments.

The Ernakulam district administration said it was prepared to rehabilitate the residents of the flats, who have been informed of it.

Amid protests by residents, the Chief Secretary visited the sites where the apartments were located and took stock of the situation.

The inhabitants said they would not leave their residences and urged the Chief Secretary to hear their versions also.

The state government took speedy steps to implement the Supreme Court order after the apex court had pulled up the government on Friday for non-compliance of its order to demolish the apartment complexes and said the state was known for allegedly not following its directives.

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

On May 8, the apex court had directed that these buildings be removed 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.