The removal of debris from the sites of Alfa Serene and Jains Coral Cove in Maradu, the high-rises which were demolished on January 11 & 12, respectively, is likely to be completed in a couple of days. The contractors have already completed removal of debris from Golden Kayaloram and Holy Faith H2O.
“The steel removal agency has told us that their work will be completed before Thursday. We need only two days to remove the remaining debris at the two sites. There are only 150 loads of debris at Alfa Serene site and 40 loads at Jains Coral Cove site,” said a person associated with the agency entrusted to remove the debris.
The four buildings in Maradu was demolished on January 11 and 12 following the Supreme Court order. the agencies which demolished the buildings should have removed the steel from the debris. But, Edifice Engineering which demolished Holy Faith H2O, Golden Kayaloram and Jain’s Coral Cove handed over the steel retrieval work to Vijay Steels, which pulled down Alfa Serene, to do the work.
The steel removal work should have been completed within 45 days from the day it had begun the work and 25 days for debris removal. “They were given 70 days to remove steel and debris and the work is almost complete. They will remove the remaining steel and debris by next week,” said T H Nadira, Maradu municipality chairperson.
Vijay Steels spokesperson couldn’t be reached despite several attempts.
Maradu flats, whose construction began in 2006. were later found to be flouting CRZ rules, which do not permit any construction within 200m of the coast in the area.
After homeowners got a reprieve from the Kerala high court in 2015, the matter was taken to the Supreme Court, which in May 2019 ordered the demolition of the four apartment complexes. After rejecting review petitions by the builders, the apex court in September asked for the demolition to be expedited and for homeowners to be paid a compensation of Rs 25 lakh.
