Kochi: In a major relief for the protesting families of Kochi’s Mundamveli housing project, Chief Minister V D Satheesan stated on Saturday that the apartment complex constructed under the LIFE Mission may have to be demolished due to irreparable structural and sanitary defects.

Speaking at a media event in Kochi, Satheesan laid bare the unlivable conditions inside the multi-storey residential complex and took a jab at the LDF government.

“Stating that all government buildings should be made into multi-storey structures, two buildings were constructed under the LIFE Mission. But today, if someone on the top floor uses the toilet, everyone down below knows it! All the toilets are leaking. Those poor people are living in utter misery,” Satheesan said.

Highlighting that rectifying the defects would cost more than erecting a brand-new building, Satheesan demanded strict institutional accountability. “We convened a meeting on the issue immediately; it will have to be demolished. It has not even been one year since it was built. Crores of public money were invested in this construction. Who is responsible? Who bears the accountability,” he asked.

The twin-tower complex was built by the Greater Cochin Development Authority (GCDA) under the LIFE Mission scheme to rehabilitate 78 low-income families from the flood-prone P&T Colony along the Perandoor Canal. However, within weeks of moving in, residents were faced with catastrophic failures, including wastewater from upper-floor toilets seeping directly into lower-floor kitchens and bedrooms, severe structural cracks, and recurrent electrical hazards aggravated by an adjacent 110-kV high-tension power line.

The Chief Minister’s admission comes as a major vindication for the residents, who have been staging an indefinite sit-in protest for over two months, rejecting temporary patchwork and demanding safe, permanent rehabilitation.

Welcoming the announcement, Abhilash P Parameswaran, President of the P&T Colony Residents’ Association, urged the government to act swiftly.

“We have been fighting on the streets for over two months. Now, the government must not delay further. Demolition and fresh rehabilitation must be executed at the earliest,” he said.

Earlier, following submissions in the Kerala Assembly by Kochi MLA Mohammad Shiyas about the alleged corruption and irregularities in the construction, Local Self-Government Department (LSGD) authorities formally forwarded the file to the Home Department recommending an inquiry by the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau (VACB).