The Kerala Government seems to have stepped up its plans for demolishing the four river front apartments projects constructed in violation of the CRZ rules in Maradu near Kochi.

An order issued by the General Administration department says that Snehil Kumar Singh, Sub Collector, Fort Kochi has been given the additional charge of Secretary, Maradu Municipal to carry out the task of demolition.

As the apartment owners are refusing to vacate their homes, the Municipality has asked Kerala State Electricity Board and other service providers to disconnect their supply lines. KSEB has been asked to disconnect the power supply before September 27. The authorities were view that the disconnection of service lines would force owners to vacate their premises without any protest, thereby averting a law and order situation.

The notice issued by the municipality also asked the agencies to remove all accessories related to their services to ensure a safe demolition of the buildings in a time bound manner.

The municipality also decided to serve notice to other utility service providers such as Kerala Water Authority, IOC, BPCL, BSNL to serve their supply lines.

Meanwhile, the apartment owners at a press meet demanded legal action against erring builders, officials of the municipality and Kerala Coastal Zone Management Authority for permitting the construction of the buildings. Maradu Bhavana Samrakshana Samithy also demanded that the government should come out with a white paper on the violation of CRZ guidelines along the Kerala coast. Incidentally, the Supreme Court also directed the government to list the violations.

The Supreme Court on Monday had pulled up the state government for not complying with its orders to demolish the apartments constructed in violation of CRZ regulations.

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