Tamil Nadu: 'Unhappy New Year' painted on walls of demolished Maradu flats

As the date to demolish the four highrise buildings in Kochi's Maradu comes near, house owners in the nearest vicinity of Alfa Serene have also started vacating their homes fearing the fate of their houses.

Paintings saying it is an 'Unhappy New Year' and 'God save my house' were drawn on the wall of a house located within 100-metre range of the Alfa Serene apartments. The residents also complained that the administration did not provide sufficient compensation to them.

"We evacuated our house 3 days ago. Now, we are living outside Maradu on rent. But we did not get adequate compensation, we just got Rs 30,000 rupees for rent for 3 months.

But we were told that we had to live for 6 months outside. All expenses related to shifting the house was also spent from our pocket," Latheef, a homeowner said on Monday.

READ | Maradu Apartments In Kochi To Be Demolished On January 11 And 12

Another resident named Harichandra Sai said that he was afraid that while demolishing the Alfa Serene apartments, his house would also break down. He alleged that the authorities did not carry out any awareness drives.

"My house developed cracks when part of the wall and pillars in the apartment were demolished. The noise and the tremors were so loud that it made us spring up in the air. When the actual demolition takes place we are afraid that our whole house will be destroyed. The authorities are misleading people here. They have not carried out any awareness drive," Sai told the media.

Many other house owners in the vicinity expressed similar concerns.

WATCH | Kerala: Locals Live In Fear After Authorities Decide To Demolish Maradu Buildings

READ | Maradu: Two Builders Seek Compensation Claiming Flat Ownership

Demolition process begins

Meanwhile, Maradu Municipality engineers have begun conducting the structural audit of houses in the vicinity of the apartments ahead of the demolition. Auditing will also be carried out after the process of demolition ends.

For the first time in India, a series of controlled blasts will be carried out to bring down four apartment complexes on January 11 and 12, in Maradu, famous for its serene lake and uninvited guests of migratory birds flying from all over the world especially from Europe during the winter season.

The four highrise towers located on the edge of the lake flowing through Maradu were ordered to be demolished by the Supreme Court on the charges of violating the Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ).
The apex court had ordered for the demolition of the four apartment complexes of H20 Holy faith, Alfa Serene, Jain Coral Cove and Golden Kayaloram for violating the CRZ norms.

READ | Deadline To Vacate Maradu Flats Ends, Owners Continue Search For Homes

READ | Maradu Flats Demolition To Be Carried Out By 2 Companies: Snehil Singh

(With inputs from ANI)