The dates to pull down the four apartment complexes in Kochi’s Maradu that were ordered to be demolished by the Supreme Court for violating Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) rules, has been finally decided. The buildings will be demolished on January 11 and 12.
The twin towers of Alfa Serene, H2O Holy Faith, Golden Kayaloram and Jains Coral Cove are the buildings which will be demolished in January based on the Supreme Court order. Three buildings of two apartment complexes will be demolished on January 11 and the rest will be pulled down the next day. It has been decided to demolish the buildings through the technique of controlled implosion, where unlike an explosion, the building will collapse inwards and not outwards.
“The two towers of Alfa Serene and H2O Holy Faith will be demolished on January 11, while the other two buildings - Golden Kayaloram and Jane Coral Cove - will be razed down on January 12,” chief secretary Tom Jose told media. He was speaking after the technical committee meeting held in Kochi with contracting agencies, which have been entrusted to demolish the buildings.
Mumbai based Edifice Engineering will be demolishing H2O Holy Faith, Jains Coral Cove and Golden Kayaloram, while the twin towers of Alfa Serene will be razed down by a Tamil Nadu based company Vijay Steels and Explosives.
The chief secretary also stated that people residing within 200 metres of the buildings will be evacuated as part of the safety measures while the buildings are being demolished. “No one will have any inconveniences, we are taking all the required safety measures to ensure that,” he said.
The contracting companies had submitted a detailed report on how the demolition will be carried out, last Friday. It was following this that the technical committee met on Monday to finalise the dates of the demolition.
It was informed by the government to Supreme Court that buildings will be razed down before January 1. Chief Secretary also stated that the government will inform the apex court about the dates that have been fixed.
As part of the safety measures, Kochi city and suburbs will have traffic regulation on the days of the demolition. “The Kochi city police commissioner is preparing a basic traffic plan for this,” said Tom Jose.
About 326 families were evicted from the four apartments following the Supreme Court verdict of May 8, 2019, which ruled that the apartments were constructed flouting environmental laws. The evicted flat owners will be given Rs 25 lakh each as temporary recompense.
At present, the preparatory works for demolishing the buildings are underway in the apartment buildings. Movable materials like doors, windows, etc. have already been dismantled. The companies are at present dismantling the intermediate walls in the structure. Workers of Edifice Engineering have also started drilling holes in the apartment to fill the explosives for implosion.
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