As the date for the demolition of the four high rises in Kochi's Maradu draws near, house owners in the immediate vicinity of Alfa Serene have started vacating their homes in fear and are also afraid about the fate of their houses.
Paintings saying it is an 'Unhappy New Year' and 'God save my house' were painted on the wall of a house located within 100-metre range of the Alfa Serene apartment.
The residents also complained that they had not received adequate compensation from the administration.
"We evacuated our house 3 days ago. Now, we are living outside Maradu on rent. But we did not get adequate compensation, we just got Rs 30,000 rupees for rent for 3 months. But then we were told that we had to live 6 months outside, all costs related to shifting the house also went from our pocket," Latheef, a homeowner told on Monday.
Harichandra Sai, another resident, said that he was afraid that the demolition of the Alfa Serene apartment would bring down his own house and alleged that no awareness drives have been carried out by the authorities.
"My house developed cracks when part of the wall and pillars in the apartment were brought down. The noise and the tremors were so loud that it made us spring up in the air. When the actual demolition takes place we are afraid that the whole house will be destroyed. The authorities are misleading people here. They have not carried out any awareness drive," Sai told .
Several other owners of houses in the vicinity expressed similar sentiments.
Meanwhile, engineers from the Maradu Municipality have started conducting the structural audit of houses in the vicinity of the apartment before the demolition. The auditing will also be conducted after the demolition process ends.
For the first time in India, a series of controlled blast will be carried out to bring down four apartment complexes on January 11 and 12, in Maradu, famous for its serene lake and uncalled guests of migratory birds flying from all over the world particularly from Europe during the winter season.
The four high-rises violating the Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) on the edge of the lake flowing through Maradu were ordered to be demolished by the Supreme Court.
The apex court had ordered for the demolition of the four apartment complexes of H20 Holy faith, Alfa Serene, Jain Coral Cove and Golden Kayaloram for violating the CRZ norms.
( With inputs from ANI )