Temporary rehabilitation efforts on for Maradu flat residents

Kochi: The residents of flats set to demolished in Maradu have been asked to submit a request for rehabilitation even as the municipal authorities are going ahead with the requisite procedures to implement a Supreme Court order to bring them down. Meanwhile, a likely environmental impact assessment by the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Madras, has alerted about adverse consequences on both environment and public health if the high-rises are razed.

Arrangements for rehabilitation of residents have been made in case the flats are razed, M Muhammad Arif Khan, the Chairman of the Maradu Municipality, said. A list of places prepared by 10 village officers in and around Kochi was submitted to the district collector through Kanayannur taluk tehsildar.

Occupants who require temporary rehabilitation need to apply today before 3 pm. Notices to this effect were pasted outside the flats’ walls by the civic staff as residents refused to accept them.

Those who do not apply will not be considered for rehabilitation, the notice states.

Thirteen companies, including a US firm, have replied to a tender for demolition, the municipal secretary said.

The deadline set by the municipality to vacate flats had expired last Sunday. The new notice was issued after no one vacated.

Residents of the property named ‘Holy Faith H2O’ locked gates and raised slogans as the municipal secretary and other officials approached the flat on Monday, posing a law and order concern.

A plea challenging the eviction notice of municipality will be submitted in the High Court today, said the occupants.

The other flats set to be demolished here are Jain’s Coral Cove, Golden Kayaloram and Alfa Serene.

Flat occupants have strengthened protests near Holy Faith H2O and in front of municipality office as the Kerala chief minister is set to hold an all-party meet today at Thiruvananthapuram.

The affected residents have sought legal action against officials who submitted in Supreme Court that the flats were built violating Coastal Regulation Zone rules.

Environmental hazards from demolition: IIT report

Meanwhile, a report submitted by the IIT, Madras, warns of environmental and health hazards of demolishing the high-rises in Maradu. The state government has to take necessary precautions against such possible dangers. Waste and dust generated in the process have lethal effect on nature, the report states.

Dust might remain in the air for days, requiring evacuation of residents nearby. Uprooting the foundation of the structure, including pillars going deep into the earth, will be a herculean task. Experts need to be roped in for this. The debris should not fall into the lake. They have to be disposed off away from the flat. It will take months to remove the foundations, the report adds.

A final IIT report is expected before September 23 when the court considers the case. The 50-page report will be discussed by the ministerial council meeting on 24.

UDF set to escalate issue

Former Kerala chief minister Oommen Chandy and PK Kunhalikutty, MP, met the residents and declared solidarity.

Congress also led a unity march to the protest venue. Chandy asked the chief minister to form an all-party panel to meet the prime minister.

Seventeen Kerala MPs led by Hibi Eden, the Ernakulam MP, submitted a request to the Prime Minister seeking his intervention. Copies of the letter were sent to Union Cabinet Ministers Ravi Shankar Prasad and Prakash Javdekar as well as Union Minister of State V Muralidharan and Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan.

The letter states the municipality had given occupancy certificates to owners, who were paying building and land taxes.

Wayanad MP Rahul Gandhi is yet to sign the request as he was unavailable.

NK Premachandran, MP, and TN Prathapan, MP, refused to sign because of a different stance on the issue.