Latha was alarmed when the electricity at her apartment was cut off at 5 am on Thursday. Her apartment complex is one of the four buildings that are on the verge of being demolished, following an order from the Supreme Court for violating the Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) rules.
"Though Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB) served the notice stating that power supply to the buildings will be disconnected on Thursday, for a moment, I hoped that it would be a regular power disruption. But that hope turned into a shock when I saw scores of police officials outside my apartment building,” Latha tells TNM.
At 4.30 in the morning, police officials were deployed around the four apartment buildings - Alfa Serene, H2O Holy Faith, Golden Kayaloram and Jains Coral Cove - to restrict people from opposing officials who came to disconnect the electricity connections.
Officials of Kerala Water Authority (KWA) also disconnected the water supply lines to the four apartments on Thursday morning.
The move was part of the eviction process initiated by the Maradu Municipality on the orders of the state government.
Meanwhile, in the wake of electricity and water supply being disrupted, residents have arranged for generators and water tanker lorries.
Though the residents have taken measures to deal with the situation by arranging water supply through tanker lorries and generators for power supply, residents explained the state of affairs to MLA M Swaraj who came visiting the apartment owners.
"Where were the political parties who came in support of us when KSEB disconnected the power supply here? We clearly remember what CPI(M) state secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan had said when he visited us, that they will be there with us. But who is there now?” one of the residents vented.
As per the direction of the Supreme Court, the state government will resubmit the affidavit on Friday, stating clearly by when the apartment buildings can be demolished. The SC last Monday had come down heavily on the state Chief Secretary Tom Jose, for the laxity shown by the government in implementing its May 8 order.
'Only government can help us’
While the government is moving proactively to implement the SC order to avoid contempt of court, which can be issued against the Chief Secretary of the state, the residents believe that 'if the government intervenes, as they should, the demolition can be avoided'.
"While submitting the affidavit on Friday again, the government should mention that there were discrepancies in the report submitted by the three-member committee as to which CRZ rule applied to the Maradu Municipality," stated advocate Antony Ettukettil, a resident of H2O Holy Faith.