In the second week of January, 2020, following a Supreme Court order, four apartment complexes in Maradu Municipality in Kochi were demolished.
Each time an apartment sunk into the ground, a mountain of dust and debris rose up. It was said that 69,606 tonnes of rubble, equivalent to the weight of 17,400 elephants, were removed from the area.
Problem is, no one knows where the debris has gone. Officials of the Comptroller and Auditor General who visited the area could not find proof of the debris in areas where it was supposed to be taken. Adding to the mystery, the CAG officers could not even contact the company that won the contract to remove the debris, Prompt Enterprises. The Company, it seemed, has ceased to exist.
Initially, the agreement executed between Maradu Municipality and Prompt Enterprises did not specify the locations to which the waste was to be transported. However, following a directive from the National Green Tribunal Monitoring Committee, the land developer (Prompt Enterprises) submitted a plan of action indicating 11 sites in Ernakulam and Alappuzha districts to which waste would be transported. "Though Maradu Municipality stated that major part of the demolition waste (37,441 tonnes) was transported to Kumbalam and Varappuzha grama panchayats and a site owned by KSIDC at Pallippuram, the panchayats and KSIDC told the Audit that they had not given any sanction to the agency (Prompt Enterprises) for the dumping of demolition waste in their jurisdictional area," said the Performance Audit of 'Waste Management in Urban Local Bodies', which was submitted in the Assembly on Thursday. The Audit team attempted to trace the debris but was unsuccessful.
Further, the report said that "no records were furnished by the Maradu Municipality in proof of the quantum of waste transported to the locations cited".
According to Rule 6(5) of Construction and Demolition Waste Management Rules, 2016, the local body has to transport the collected waste to appropriate sites for processing and disposal either through own resources or by appointing private operators.
The Audit report said that the Construction and Demolition Waste could be utilised in sanitary landfill for municipal solid waste, as drainage layer in leachate collection system, as daily cover over fresh waste in the landfill, and even as paving blocks in pedestrian areas.
The four apartments - Jains Coral Cove, H2O Holy Faith, Alfa Serene and Golden Kayaloram - were ordered to be demolished for violating Coastal Zone Regulation rules. All the four were occupied, and tenants had to leave without compensation and find new accommodation.
