Two out of four illegal residential apartments in Kerala's Maradu were demolished by the use of implosion technology here on Saturday.
The 19-floor H2O Holy Faith apartment complex with 90 flats and the Alfa Serene complex with twin towers were demolished at 11 am and 11.05 am respectively.
The buildings were razed for violating the Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) rules. The directions in this regard were passed by the Supreme Court last year.
The court has also ordered the state government to pay interim compensation to each flat owner.
Ahead of the demolition prohibitory orders were put in place on both land, air and water in the area.
The district administration has imposed Section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) in the 200-meter radius of the apartment complexes.
The orders came into effect at 9 am and it will continue till the authorities conduct an inspection and declare the place safe for people to return.
Half an hour before the implosion, the first siren was sounded for one whole minute to ensure that people have left the demolition zone. A police team then searched for the evacuation area.
At 10.55 am, another one-minute siren alerted motorists and all traffic movement on major roads was stopped. Following this, the flats were razed down.
( With inputs from ANI )