Kochi: Four posh high-rises in Maradu municipality of Kerala's Ernakulam district, built in violation of Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) norms, are set to be razed in the second week of January as per a Supreme Court order.
The state's CRZ worries, however, are not likely to end with the demolition of the buildings.
As per a latest government report, there are 4,239 buildings, most of them residential, suspected to have built in violation of CRZ norms in Ernakulam district alone.
The shocking figure has emerged in a report submitted by the Coastal District Committee to the regional town planning officer.
This is the third interim report prepared by the committee, formed by the state government in October.
The panels were formed in 10 coastal districts after the Supreme Court directed the chief secretary to prepare the list of CRZ violations across the state.
The 4,239 buildings have been identified from across 32 local bodies in the district.
Of these, maximum violations are in Chellanam gram panchayat – 1,653. Paravur municipality, with just one suspected violation, is at the bottom of the list.
Other local bodies were over 100 violations are suspected are Njarakkal (276), Ezhikkara (369), Pallipuram (677) and Elamkunnapuza (208).
In the jurisdiction of nine local bodies, there are no reported CRZ violations.
These are Thrikkakara, Kalamassery, Eloor (municipalities), Karumaloor, Amballoor, Kunnukara, Alangadu, Kadungalloor and Puthenvelikara (panchayats).
The report, with the details of the suspected violators is available in the government website.
Building owners whose names have been included in the report inadvertently can register their complaints with the authorities concerned.
The complaints can be filed with the Senior town planner, Regional town planning office, Civil station, Kakkanad.
“The comments/suggestions/opinions on the reports submitted by the district committee will be collected from public by the concerned district
collectors by December 31. The same shall be incorporated and the final CRZ violation report shall be submitted to the government on or before January 12, 2020,” the report says.
Out of the 4,239 reported cases only 2,125 are reported in the new prescribed proforma given by the Kerala Coastal Zone Management Authority (KCZMA).
Chellanam, Kumbalangi, Vadakkekkara and Ezhikkara grama panchayats have not yet submitted the details of all the suspected CRZ violations in the prescribed proforma as directed.
“The number of suspected CRZ violations which were reported from the local bodies as per the first and second interim reports seem to have reduced in some cases based on the field verification after the training programme conducted by KCZMA. The modified list of CRZ violations in the prescribed proforma given by LSGI’s are included in this report. These reported violations needs to be further verified with the technical experts from KCZMA for finding the actual cases of CRZ violations in Ernakulam district,” the report states.
As per the report, a pilot survey on high-rise buildings in the Maradu municipality and Kochi Corporation was carried out by the Town and Country Planning Department as per the directions of the district collector for identifying and listing of the existing high-rise buildings in the CRZ areas of these local bodies.
The survey identified 41 buildings in Maradu municipality and 93 buildings in Kochi corporation CRZ areas, which has to be verified by the KCZMA.
These identified high-rise buildings in the CRZ areas of the Maradu municipality and Kochi Corporation need to be further verified with relevant documents to find out the actual CRZ Violations among them.
A special cell and advisory committee on CRZ has been constituted for the district under the Chairmanship of the Sub Collector, Fort Kochi.
A notice will be given to the above constructions for submitting details regarding the approvals obtained.
Apart from Ernakulam, Coastal District Committees have been formed in Kasaragod, Kannur, Malappuram, Kozhikode, Thrissur, Kottayam, Alappuzha, Kollam and Thiruvananthapuram.
In Thiruvananthapuram, 3,535 violations are suspected with a maximum of 1,964 from Karakulam gram panchayat. Alappuzha district has reported 4,536 violations (Punnapra South panchayat – 822). Other districts have not compiled the data yet.
