Kochi: Flat owners hail Supreme Court fiat on survey
What if we lose our property and end up on roads. All our hard earned money is invested here: Shamsudheen Karunagappally.
Kochi: The owners of demolition-threatened Maradu apartments on Monday welcomed the Supreme Court direction to the state government to hold a detailed survey to find illegal constructions across the state.
"We welcome the court direction for a detailed survey of illegal structures (violating coastal regulation norms) which will bring out the truth behind how we ended up as victims," said Shamsudheen Karunagappally, lawyer and president of the Maradu Bhavana Samrakshana Samiti.
On the court's observation that 'residents in the four flats will be first to get affected if some disaster happens in the coastal belt, the samiti expressed happiness over the court's concern for them. "..but we hope it will consider our plight too. What if we lose our property and end up on roads. All our hard earned money is invested here. We never faced flood threats even when a majority of areas in the state got inundated during the nature fury in the last two years," he said.
Meanwhile the Pawravedi, comprising local residents in Kundannoor, demanded that the state government should take action against the "actual violators". "…they (owners) bought their flats after obtaining all permissions and licences and it was wrong to punish them for the possible mistakes committed by builders, then municipal officials and politicians. The government should probe on the actual violators," said Suneela Siby, divisional (Kundanoor) counselor and chairperson of 'Pawravedi'.