KOCHI: Years of wait. An investment of a lifetime. All for a place that can be called home. And yet, hundreds of people, associated with the army, who began setting up a home in two towers of the Chander Kunj apartment complex on Silver Sand Island in Vyttila, felt betrayed by the Army Welfare Housing Corporation (AWHO).
As the flats turned out to be non-livable because of poor quality construction and violation of norms, the legal battle continues with AWHO filing another petition instead of following the district collector-headed committee directives towards the demolition of the dilapidated structures.
The Kerala High Court had entrusted the committee with initiating measures for the timely settlement of the matter. In its verdict delivered over a year ago, the court directed the committee to set “clear timelines for evacuation, demolition and reconstruction to avoid unnecessary delays”.
But it seems, despite the specific instructions of the court, the committee has been unable to break the deadlock in the interest of the residents.
In the first week of October, the committee had instructed AWHO to accept the keys and hand over the twin towers to Mumbai-based Edifice to begin preparations for the demolition of the flats.
However, AWHO has filed a petition in the High Court, questioning the directive of the committee and thereby delaying the whole process further. Sources with AWHO noted that cases on different matters regarding the Chander Kunj Army Towers were under the consideration of the the Supreme Court and that handing over the buildings would not be possible unless the pleas in the apex court were disposed of.
“It is the builder who should hand over the flats to the company that took up the contract for demolition work. That’s why AWHO was asked to attend a meeting in Kochi to accept the keys from residents. But that didn’t work out well, as they stayed away while residents showed up,” a committee official said.
The residents shared the opinion, with the next sitting of the case scheduled on October 28.
“We don’t know when all these legal procedures would end. We wanted to settle in and have a peaceful life here and trusted AWHO with our money. But now we feel betrayed, and surprisingly, no one is interested in questioning AWHO despite the kind of huge scam they are involved in,” said a Chander Kunj flat resident.
When the demolition was announced, it was supposed to be a `96-crore project. But according to a report submitted by AWHO in the court, the project cost escalated to more than `200 crore.
“Chander Kunj is not an isolated case as AWHO is allegedly facing similar issues in other states, especially after 2008. We don’t know when we will get a proper house to stay,” the resident added.
AWHO is yet to approve the rental compensation for 22 residents, citing technical reasons.
“A majority of the residents who have been denied rental compensation are actually those posted in other parts of the country as part of their duty in the army and hence couldn’t submit the necessary documents in time,” the resident said.
Meanwhile, an official with the committee said the next step would be taken based on the High Court directives. Meanwhile, the residents are of the opinion that the district administration should be stern with AWHO to ensure the directives are followed.
What the numbers say
No of flats: 104 in each tower (B and C)
Rental compensation agreed on: L21,000 (tower B) and L23,000 (tower C)
82 out of 264 owners opted buy back
Flats handed over to residents in 2018
Residents paid L75 lakh to L1 crore per flat
