The Maradu municipality of Kerala’s Ernakulam district on Tuesday issued notices to the Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB) and Kerala Water Authority (KWA) to disconnect the power and water supply within three days, to the four apartment complexes in the Maradu area which have been ordered by the Supreme Court to be demolished for violating the Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) norms.
According to reports, the notice has been issued by the municipality to the KSEB assistant engineer and KWA assistant executive engineer and both the officials have said that they would go ahead with the notice after discussing the matter with their senior officials.
A KWA official, according to a report by the Times of India (TOI) was quoted to have said that, “Normally we disconnect water connection after issuing notices to residents and giving them some time.” He went on to add that in emergency situations, they act without granting any time to the residents.
According to a report by The New Indian Express (TNIE), the decision to issue notices to the KSEB and KWA was taken during an emergency review meeting called by Chief Secretary Tom Jose in Thiruvananthapuram on Tuesday.
During the meeting, it was also decided to hand over the additional charge of demolishing the apartment complexes to Fort Kochi Sub-Collector Snehil Kumar Singh IAS. An order regarding this was issued by the Kerala government’s joint secretary Rajesh Kumar M.
Arif Khan, the current secretary of the Maradu municipality, according to a report by TNIE, was quoted to have said, “The chief secretary convened the emergency meeting to discuss further actions to demolish the buildings. As per the decision, I’ve issued notices to both the KSEB and KWA to disconnect electricity and water connections with immediate effect. I’m yet to receive official order from the government.”
The SC’s decision to demolish the four apartment complexes for violating the CRZ norms has pushed the residents living in these apartments to come out in protest against the order outside the Maradu Municipality.