In less than two weeks, the first of the four waterfront apartment complexes in Kochi, Kerala ordered to be demolished by the Supreme Court for violation of Coastal Regulation Zone rules will be brought down using controlled explosion.
At 11 a.m. on 11 January 2020, the demolition experts called in from outside the state will pull down the 18 storied Holy Faith H20 apartment. This will be followed half an hour later by the demolition of the twin towers of Alfa Serene apartments, also 18 storied will be demolished. Jain Coral Cove apartments and Golden Kayaloram, the other two complexes will be demolished the next day, January 12, at 11 am and 2 PM respectively. The demolition has finally been ordered after a clutch of review petitions and curative petitions were dismissed by the Supreme Court which had in May this year ordered the demolition of the flats. A local official was quoted by television networks as saying that the schedule is final and no more changes are likely.
Nearly 400 families were evicted from the four apartments following the Supreme Court verdict which ruled that the apartments were constructed flouting environmental laws. The evicted flat owners will be given Rs 25 lakh each as temporary recompense. The apartments were built in violation of rules that prohibit construction not less than a certain distance from the coast, backwaters and river beds.
— India Legal Bureau