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| India has seen a construction boom in recent years but developers have often ridden roughshod over safety and other regulations (AFP Photo/Arun SANKAR) |
Two luxury waterfront high-rises in southern India were reduced to rubble in controlled explosions Saturday in a rare example of authorities getting tough on builders who break environmental rules.
The
19-floor H2O Holy Faith complex of 90 flats -- overlooking Kerala state's
famous lush backwaters -- was the first to go down, collapsing in just a matter
of few seconds.
A thick
grey cloud of dust and debris cascaded down after officials detonated
explosives drilled into the walls of the building, which had been occupied for
several years until the Supreme Court ruled last May that it was constructed in
violation of coastal regulations.
Minutes
later, the twin towers of Alfa Serene tumbled down with an ear-splitting noise.
The remaining two complexes will be razed on Sunday.
A crowd of
onlookers who flocked to nearby terraces and roads watched the demolition,
after officials in helicopters conducted aerial surveys.
India has
seen a construction boom in recent years but developers have often ridden
roughshod over safety and other regulations, with the connivance of local
officials.
The
inhabitants of the apartment blocks in the well-off Maradu district of Kochi
city had bought their 343 flats in good faith and now face a lengthy legal
fight to recoup their money. Some had invested their life savings.
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Sirens went
off warning people gathered for the demolition to remain at a safe distance
while ambulances and fire engines stood on standby (AFP Photo/Arun SANKAR)
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Sirens went
off on Saturday warning people gathered for the demolition to remain at a safe
distance while ambulances and fire engines stood on standby.
Ahead of
the work, nearby residents told AFP they were worried about the impact of the
demolition on their homes.
"When
they were demolishing the swimming pool, some of the houses in our
neighbourhood developed cracks, we are really worried," said Divya, who
has moved into temporary accommodation.
Over 2,000
residents living in the neighbourhood were evacuated as a part of safety
measures.
Scenic
and fragile
The
demolition capped a saga that began in 2006 when a local governing body granted
permission to private builders to erect the high-rises.
But last
year, the Supreme Court ruled that the builders were in breach of rules about
construction in an ecologically sensitive coastal zone, calling it a
"colossal loss" to the environment.
"It's
a high-tide area and hundreds of illegal structures have come up in the coastal
zone," the court ruled as it ordered the buildings razed.
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The
inhabitants of the razed apartment blocks in the well-off Maradu district of
Kochi
city had bought their 343 flats in good faith and now face a lengthy
legal fight to
recoup their money (AFP Photo/Arun SANKAR)
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On Friday
the court also ordered the demolition of a resort in neighbouring Alappuzha
district after its owners lost the appeal of a 2013 ruling that said the
structure violated environmental regulations and must be demolished.
Kerala is
famed for its brackish lagoons and lakes that run parallel to the Arabian Sea
-- creating an environmentally fragile region.
In 2018,
the state was battered by its worst floods in almost a century that killed more
than 400 people.
Experts
blamed the disaster on the government's eagerness to build houses, hotels and
resorts with little regard for coastal planning regulations.
The
residents of the Maradu apartments initially refused to vacate but moved out
after local authorities cut water and power supplies.
They have
been given interim partial compensation by the state government while the
builders are in the process of providing a refund.
Shamshudeen
Karunagapally, who bought a flat for $145,000, said his wife and children did
not watch the buildings go down as it was "too painful for them to see
their dreams shatter before their eyes".
"We
are suffering without any fault," he told AFP.
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