Kochi: Flat owners say justice denied

KOCHI: The Maradu Bhavana Samrakshana Samithi, the newly formed coordination committee of the owners of apartments that the Supreme Court had ordered to demolish for violation of CRZ norms, says they were denied natural justice without hearing their side.

Addressing reporters at Ernakulam Press Club on Monday, the Samithi representatives said they would launch a series of programmes to sensitise the authorities and the public about their grievances.

“Fundamental rights have been violated in our case. The apex court issued the final judgment based on the report of a court-appointed three-member committee prepared without hearing our version. Unfortunately, the SC dismissed the writ petitions and review petitions without a hearing in open court,” said Sha-msudeen Karunagappally, its chairman.

The Samithi is holding a protest before Maradu municipality office on Tuesday to bring the attention of the civic authorities and the public to their apprehensions. Former MP Sebastian Paul will inaugurate the dharna. M. Swaraj MLA and former minister K. Babu will also attend.

“Nearly 400 families will be made homeless for no fault of theirs. In a country, where there are clear rules and regulations to evacuate even those who sleep in the streets and slum dwellers, our rights have been denied. The government is responsible for protecting us,” Mr Karunagappally said.

Maradu has been included in the CRZ category – II in the Coastal Management Plan submitted by the state government as per the CRZ notification of 2011 and approved by the Union environment and forest ministry on February 29, 2019.

However, the three-member committee submitted the report to the court by hiding the same and stated that the area falls within the CRZ category – III as per the ambiguous plan of 1996. “If it is so, more than 2,000 buildings, including houses, in the area came up before February 2019 will have to be demolished,” said C. M. Varghese of the Samithi.

They said if the SC order is implemented across the state, thousands of people along the coastal areas will be displaced, which will have a big socio-economic and environmental impact.

“We fear more PILs will be submitted against constructions in coastal areas based on this SC judgment,” he said.