Plan ready to raze illegal Maradu flats

THE MULTI-STOREY ILLEGAL APARTMENT COMPLEXES WILL BE DEMOLISHED USING CONTROLLED IMPLOSION ON JANUARY 11 AND 12

KOCHI: Setting the stage for razing down of four multi-storey illegal apartment complexes here later this week, the authorities on Sunday came up with a detailed plan including declaration of exclusive zone around the structures where “no entry” is allowed.

Police said people will not be allowed to enter within a 200m radius of the apartment complexes in Maradu municipal area on January 11 and 12, the dates fixed for demolishing the illegal structures using controlled implosion method.

“Section 144 (CRPC) would be imposed within the exclusion zone. No entry is allowed in the exclusion zone. The exclusion zone would be implemented and maintained by the police and any entry in the exclusion zone area would be illegal”, police said.

The authorities are implementing the Supreme Court order directing to demolish the water front high-rises constructed in violation of coastal regulation zone norms.

Close to 500 police personnel would be deployed at every demolition site, Kochi City Police Commissioner and Inspector General Vijay Sakhare told reporters here. The 19-floor H2O Holyfaith apartment complex having 90 flats and the Alfa Serene complex with 73 flats in its 17 and 12 floors twin towers would be demolished on January 11 in a gap between 11 am and 11.05 a.m.

While the 17-floor Jain Coral Cove apartment complex with 122 flats would be razed at 11 a.m on January 12, the Golden Kayaloram with 40 flats and 17 floors would be demolished at 2 p.m, authorities said.

The water bodies around the flat towers are also part of the exclusion zone and entry in the water bodies is also prohibited, police said. The authorities have issued guidelines to media directing not to stand immediately on the exclusion zone boundary and set up their equipment only after some distance from the exclusion zone boundary.

Flying drone cameras within the exclusion zone has been banned. “The entire exclusion zone is a No-fly Zone. Any unauthorised drones flying would be taken down. Any unauthorised drone flying near the building may trigger the explosives and may lead to premature detonation,” police said.

“We are ready and hopefully everything will go on well without causing inconvenience to people, without causing any harm to anybody,” Sakhare said.