The decision of demolishing the buildings in coastal regulation zone of Kochi, Kerala, was taken by a bench of justices Arun Mishra and Navin Sinha while discussing the matter with an expert committee. The Supreme Court had earlier said the 500 flats should be demolished within one month.
Ernakulam: The Supreme Court has ordered not to demolish five apartment complexes, comprising 500 flats in Kerala's Kochi. The court took this decision not to demolish the apartments while hearing a writ petition filed by the residents of the flat. The Supreme Court ordered to continue the present situation for six weeks. The apartments will not be demolished till then.
The decision of demolishing the buildings was taken by a bench of justices Arun Mishra and Navin Sinha while discussing the matter with an expert committee. The court had earlier said that the 500 flats should be demolished within one month. The five apartments include Holy Faith, Holiday Heritage, Alfa Ventures and Jain Housings.
The decision to demolish the apartment came after the court found out that the apartments have violated the Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) rules.
The five apartments are situated in the Maradu municipality in Kochi. The municipality was formed in 2010. When the permission was given to build the apartments, Maradu was a panchayat.
The apartments were built after gaining permission from the then panchayat in 2005. But later, the inspection of vigilance wing of the Local Self Government Department (LSDG) found that the apartments were built violating the CRZ-III rules, which form the most critical sector for coastal environment protection.
In 2015, the Kerala high court gave a verdict in the issue in support of the apartments, but then it was challenged in the Supreme Court by the Kerala Coastal Zone Management Authority (KCZMA).
The committee report said that according to the 1991 CRZ notification and the Kerala Coastal Zone Management Plan of 1996, the concerned area was found under CRZ-III. The local organisation issued permission to the builders without the consent of KCZMA, the competent authority.
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