Complete demolition in 138 days; pay 25 Lakhs compensation to owners: Supreme Court

New Delhi (PTI): The Supreme Court Friday directed demolition of flats built on the coastal zone of Kochi's Maradu within 138 days, a timeline given by the Kerala government, and asked the state to pay Rs 25 lakh interim compensation to each flat owner within four weeks.

The top court said that it was not against anyone but the primary concern is illegal constructions in Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) areas, which eventually lead to natural disasters. It also ordered setting up of one-member committee of retired high court judge to oversee the demolition and assessing of total compensation payable to affected flat owners.

A bench, comprising Justices Arun Mishra and S Ravindra Bhat, directed freezing of assets of builders and promoters who were involved in the construction of illegal buildings in the coastal zone areas of Kochi. The bench further said the government may consider recovering the interim compensation amount, which will be paid to flat owners, from the builders and the promoters. Kerala Chief Secretary Tom Jose was present at the hearing. The court said his presence would not be required during the next hearing on October 25.

The chief secretary in its affidavit had said, "There are 343 flats in the four multi-storeyed apartment buildings covering an area of 68,028.71 square metre. The municipality has an area of 12.35 sq km and is densely populated with a population of 3,619 sq kms.Two national highways namely NH-47 and NH-47(A) pass through this area." Senior advocate Harish Salve, appearing for the Kerala government, informed the bench that power and water supply were disconnected to the four apartment complexes in Kochi on Thursday.

The apex court said there should not be any reason for the delay in carrying out the demolition and gave the example of Kant enclave in Faridabad, where illegal structures were razed on its order, and modalities of recovering the money from those responsible for such constructions has been worked out. The bench clarified that the court's primary concern was that no construction should have been carried out at the eco-fragile coastal zone and the question was not regarding any individual.

"Question is not to evict everyone from an area. We are not against anybody. Our primary concern is the illegal construction in the coastal zone area, which lead to natural disaster," it said. While Salve was making submissions relating to the nitty gritty of demolition exercise that has to be carried out, the bench said, "If you cannot do it, we will think of involving some other outside agency." Salve said the state government has submitted a plan under which in 138 days the structure would be demolished -- including 90 days for demolition and 38 days for removing of debris.