The Supreme Court of India on Monday refused to entertain a plea filed by the flat owners of the four apartment complexes in the Maradu area in Kerala’s Ernakulam district, seeking a stay on the demolition of the buildings. In their petition, flat owners had also challenged the legality of the panel that had recommended the demolition of the four apartment complexes –Jains Coral Cove, Golden Kayaloram, H20 Holy Faith and Alfa Serene.
The plea of the flat owners was dismissed by a bench of Justices Arun Mishra and S Ravindra Bhat. The decision by the Supreme Court comes a few days after the Kerala government was directed to pay an interim compensation of Rs 25 lakh to each flat owner of the apartment complexes. The apex court had directed the government to recover the amount for compensation from the builders of these apartments. The state government has been given a time duration of four weeks to provide the interim compensation amount to the flat owners.
The Kerala government told the court that the demolition process will start on October 9 and will be completed in 90 days. It added that an additional 48 days will be required to clear the debris from the location.
The Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB) and the Kerala Water Authority (KWA) had last week disconnected the power and water supply to the four apartment complexes, as requested by the Maradu municipality.
The four apartment complexes that have been ordered for demolition had received the permission for construction before 2005, that is, when Maradu was a gram panchayat. It was upgraded to a municipality in November 2010. Each apartment is estimated to cost between Rs 50 lakh and Rs 1.5 crore.
It was in May earlier this year that the Supreme Court ordered the demolition of the apartments for violating CRZ norms. However, the decision of the court had raised several questions as to whether the flat owners - many of them aged and retired – were aware of such norms. The verdict was issued following an appeal filed by the Kerala State Coastal Zone Management Authority (KSCZMA).