KOCHI:
Confederation of Real Estate Developers Association of India (CREDAI) said that the lives of 350 families at the four projects in Maradu which are to be demolished along with the developers of these projects are in a crisis.
The apartment owners have not done any crime. CREDAI pointed out that it is unfair to picture the builders as culprits when the system is flawed and the State has failed to perform its responsibilities. The flats which are ordered to demolish had obtained valid building permits from the respective local body.
Supreme Court had appointed a three-member committee on November 27, 2018 to examine whether Maradu is in CRZ II or III category. However, the committee went by the report of a technical sub-committee which had two members of the Coastal Regulation Authority itself who wrongly submitted that Maradu is in CRZ III category as on today, though the facts show otherwise.
The sub-committee did hear the version of apartment’s owners. Since 1996 since the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change ( MoEF& CC) cleared the Coastal Zone Management Plan (CZMP) for the first time, it had asked Kerala Coastal Zone Management Authority (KCZMA) to correct all the defects of categorisation. The affidavit submitted by C P Nair, the Chief Secretary in 1997, to Central Environment Ministry said that Maradu and many other panchayats should be CRZ II and the affidavit from Maradu Municipality to the High Court in 2007 also says that Maradu is in CRZ II category.
CREDAI also feels that the present crisis in Maradu flats is due to the unclear CRZ notification, absence of clear guidelines, changes in notifications and the observation of judiciary in various stages. This had led the common man being badly affected and they are denied justice and the basic right assured by the Constitution.
The mistakes pointed out by the Union Environment Ministry on Coastal Management Plan in 1996 is not rectified even after 23 years. It is injustice to take criminal case against the builders for the drawbacks of the officials and respective authorities like Kerala Coastal Zone Management Authority ( KCZMA).
These recent incidents and many such others gives an impression that Kerala is not a safe investment destination but also a dangerous place to do business. They urged the State Government to stop the criminal actions against the builders for the fault for the non-effective government systems.
CREDAI has strong objection in the way State Government had handled the Maradu issue. The demolition of flats at Maradu could have been avoided if the State Government took a principled approach highlighting the true facts and the history of events of CRZ, failures of mapping by the Kerala Coastal Zone Management Authority (KCZMA). It is also to be brought to the notice that there is absolute non-compliance/inaction on various committee reports over the last 23 years, in this regard. Government should be playing the role of a supportive and constructive agency than that of a destructive force. CREDAI appeal to the Govt. to drop all such punitive actions against the builders who have fallen prey to the inefficient systems and the negligent attitude of the authorities.
The mistakes made in the last 23 years should be rectified by doing proper Coastal Zone Management Plan (CZMP) to protect the interest of the common man and investors, failing which thousands of other small and big buildings in the coastal towns in Kerala which are developed and substantially built up will also suffer. The Government should order a judicial inquiry into what led to the present situation in the state.
CREDAI Kerala had filed an application in the Supreme Court impleading itself with the prayer to avoid demolition of the building based on the new evidences provided. The bench of Justice Arun Mishra which heard on the 25 th Oct, 2019, said it was too late to change the order now and was not ready to look at it afresh.
