THE CASE OF KOCHI’S ‘ILLEGAL’ APARTMENTS
The five luxury apartments in Maradu municipality in Kochi that are facing demolition as per India’s Supreme Court order — for violating Coastal Regulation Zone provisions — are Holiday Heritage, Holy Faith, Jain Housing, Kayaloram Apartment and Alpha Ventures.
The buildings are on the banks of the Vembanad Lake. Waterfront apartments have always attracted a premium, but in this case, the question of the legality of construction is confronting the flat buyers.
In the future, this will make waterfront home buyers think twice before purchasing them. It is also an advantage for premium national builders like DLF who have riverside apartments that are not violating CRZ norms.
In 2006, permission was granted to construct the buildings at Maradu. At that time, Maradu was a panchayat (village council). Currently, Maradu is a municipality.
The gist of the case is that the construction was carried out when the Maradu area was classified in the Coastal Regulation Zone — III category where construction was illegal. A later amendment brought it under CRZ-II, but the apex court pointed out that the relevant point was that the construction was illegal when it was done.
The flat owners were elated when a single bench and then a division bench of the Kerala High Court gave a verdict in favour of the builders. But the Coastal Zone Management Authority challenged the verdict and approached the Supreme Court, which held that the constructions were illegal when they were done.
The Maradu municipality says it has neither the expertise nor the financial capacity to carry out razing of the five buildings. The state government has assured the local body all help to facilitate their demolition.
The Supreme Court wants the demolition to be done by September 20 and has asked Kerala’s chief secretary to be present before the bench headed by Justice Arun Mishra on September 23.