After a long drawn legal battle, following a directive from the Supreme Court, the demolition process of a plush Rs 200 crore Kapico resort at Nediyanthuruthu in Alappuzha on the Vembanad lake began on Thursday, September 15. The demolition of the resort buildings, sprawled on the lakeside, will be completed in six months.
Alappuzha Collector VR Krishna Theja told reporters that the demolition process is being done as per the instruction of the Supreme Court. They (apparently the resort owners) have submitted a demolition plan. We have asked them to complete the demolition in six months. The demolition will be monitored by the state Pollution Control Board. We are expecting that the land will be restored to normal in six months. It will be done not using public money, but that of the resort owners,” the Collector said.
The resorts, situated on an island in the backwaters of the Vembanad lake comprising 54 posh villas, were built in 2007-2012. A series of cases for violating the Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) rules were filed even as the construction was going on. Initially, the Kerala High Court ruled against the resort and the defendants then approached the apex court, which also ruled against the resort.
“As per the report of the Tahsildar in 2011, 2.9397 hectares had been encroached to build the resort. Now, the government has retrieved the 2.9397 hectares. Some buildings are still on government land that will also be demolished soon. He added that whatever construction is on government land will be demolished and whatever on the land owned by the resort owners will be retained,” the Collector added.
The project is spread over seven hectares and falls under the Panavally village panchayat. The tahsildar on Thursday told the media that the day will see two villas being knocked down.
"The debris will have to be disposed of according to the set protocols by the resort management and they are free to take whatever they need to take from the demolished resorts. All this will be done at their expense only. A timeframe of six months has been given to them to finish the demolition and dispose of the debris," he said.
With IANS inputs