The Kerala government on Saturday said the evacuation of residents of four illegal apartment complexes here, ordered to be demolished by the Supreme Court, would commence soon.
The government would take steps to demolish the apartment complexes built on the coastal zone of Kochi's Maradu as per the action plan submitted by the government in the Supreme Court, Chief Secretary Tom Jose told reporters here.
He said the state government would pay Rs 25 lakh interim compensation to each flat owner within four weeks as ordered by the Supreme Court.
Jose also said banks have been directed to freeze assets of builders and promoters who were involved in the construction of illegal buildings in the coastal zone areas.
The Chief Secretary's statement comes a day after the Supreme Court directed demolition of apartment complexes 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 Court had said the government may consider recovering the interim compensation amount, which will be paid to flat owners, from the builders and the promoters.
The top bureaucrat in the 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 per sq kms.
Two national highways namely NH-47 and NH-47(A) pass through this area."
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