Maradu flats: SC deadline expiring today

Kochi: The deadline set by Supreme Court for demolishing the apartment complexes in Maradu expires on Friday. The apeax court had, on September 6, issued the order fordemolition for violating the Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) rules.

The Maradu complex comprises 356 flats across five proprties, where 240 families live. .

The Maradu municipality was entrusted with the responsibility of demolition after the rehabilitation of the residents. The Chief Secretary was asked to supervise the execution and to submit a report of compliance.

The Supreme Court also ordered the Chief Secretary to appear in personbefore the court and present the report.  However, strong protests and repercussions coerced the government to abstain from immediate drastic action. .

The residents of the complexes refused to vacate and stood firm in their stance even after passage of the deadline for their vacation notified by the municipality. The government convened an all-party meeting to discuss the issue. The meeting decided to approach the SC and the Centre to seek a legal recourse to avoid demolition.

Hence, the municipality stopped all procedures for eviction of the residents and demolition of the flats.

The municipality drew strong protests as it had pasted eviction notices prior to the all-party meeting. The municipality chairperson TH Nadeera said on Thursday that the civic body cannot do anything  before a decision is taken at government or Supreme Court level.