Illegal H2O Holy Faith apartment tower was brought down through controlled implosion on Saturday. The residential complex was demolished at 11.18 am. Minutes after razing down Holy Faith, Alfa Serene complex with twin apartment towers in Maradu was also demolished. Meanwhile, section 144 of the CrPC was enforced on land, air, and water in the area. The final round of demolition will take place on Sunday. Thousands of people watched the demolition from outside the evacuation zone.
The illegal Maradu complex houses a total of 343 flats. As per reports, the demolition would be carried out safely without causing any damage to buildings in the neighborhood. As a precautionary measure, people living in the neighborhood falling under the evacuation zone, a 200-meter radius from the complexes, have been asked to move out of the area on the two days.
In September 2019, the Supreme Court had directed the demolition of the apartment complexes within 138 days, a timeline was given by the Kerala government.
On May 8, 2019, the apex court had directed that these buildings be removed within a month as they were constructed in a notified CRZ, which was part of the tidally-influenced water body in Kerala.
The court had passed the order after taking note of a report of a three-member committee, which said when the buildings were built, the area was already notified as a CRZ and construction was prohibited.
Though the residents staged protests for several days refusing to vacate, later they relented. The court has ordered an interim compensation of Rs 25 lakh each to the owners of the flats.
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