KOCHI: A day after the Supreme Court order to raze down residential apartment complexes in Kochi’s Kundanoor waterfront, the affected builders - Alfa Ventures, Holy Faith Apartments and Jain Housing - went into a huddle on Thursday to discuss the future course of action.
“We are yet to see the SC order. It’s two days since the order was announced. We have interacted with state members of Credai (the Confederation of Real Estate Developers Association of India), the apex body of property developers in the country, to see what are the options in front of us,” said J Paul Raj, Alfa Ventures (P) Ltd.
According to Credai officers, there are only three apartment complexes that face the bulldozer. “As far as we know, there are only three flat complexes that face the threat. The fourth one, Holiday Heritage, is yet to be constructed and Kayaloram Apartments does not come under the CRZ rules.
“I think its files may have gone with the bunch that were sent to the SC,” said the Credai official.
Paul Raj said the 71 families staying in his Alfa Ventures Apartments are backing him fully.
“They know that we are innocent, and they have given their unstinting support to us. We will also go all the way to ensure they would not face any problem.
SBI, HDFC HAVE BIG EXPOSURE
Meanwhile, it is learnt the State Bank of India and HDFC have the biggest exposure in the form of mortgages in the apartments. With the apartment owners providing their flat-documents as collateral for the housing loan, it’s not known what steps the banks will take to recover the loan.
“Normally, the housing loans will have an insurance cover. This will help the banks in recovering the amount. But, in this case, when the flat is razed down for alleged violation of rules, it will be interesting how the banks will recover the money,” said C D Joson, state convenor of United Forum of Bank Unions.