The demolition of two illegal flat complexes in Kochi took place on Saturday morning, January 11, as ordered by the Supreme Court. The buildings were found to be in violation of coastal regulation zone rules.

The first of the two, H2O Holy Faith building (above) had almost 20 floors and 91 flats. The second to be demolished (below) had 67 flats on 17 floors. Section 144 of the Indian Criminal Procedure Code was imposed in the area from 8 am in the morning to 4 pm in the evening.

On October 25, 2019, the Supreme Court ordered the Kerala government to compensate Maradu flat owners with Rs 25 lakh in the interim. The Kerala government stated that it has so far disbursed Rs 10 crore as compensation.

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In September 2019, the SC said that the demolition process should be completed in 138 days, while the Kerala government had set a deadline of January 9 this year for the demolition. Two more Maradu apartment buildings remain to be demolished under the same order.

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