KALPETTA: AT a time when the high-rise apartments in Maradu are being razed for violating Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ), a 13-storey building in Wayanad is facing demolition for flouting norms.
Ghazal, the residential apartment in Chundel village in Vythiri taluk, was allegedly built on paddy land, flouting rules. Mananthavady Sub-Collector N S K Umesh, who was transferred two weeks ago as Sabarimala special officer, had ordered in October 2018 that the land where the building stands should be restored as paddy land and cultivation resumed.
The builders approached the High Court against the order and later the land revenue commissioner (LRC) as per the court’s instruction. The commissioner, after hearing both parties, asked the sub-collector to file a new report after conducting a fresh field study.That report also unambiguously stated the land was actually paddy land, but converted to purayidam (land) by violating rules.
Convinced about the fraud, the LRC has asked the revenue department to rectify the error in the resurvey and revert. Vythiri (Land Revenue) Tahsildar Augustine M J said: “In the earlier records, the said land was marked as paddy land. It became purayidam after the resurvey process and the building was constructed. This anomaly should be rectified as per the LRC’s order. The surveyor has been entrusted with the task.”
The land reverting to paddy land means the high-rise cannot exist there as per the Kerala Conservation of Paddy Land and Wetland Act. The sub-collector had taken the action following a complaint filed by green activist C S Dharmaraj.
Rules flouted
Ghazal, the residential apartment in Chundel village in Vythiri taluk, was allegedly built on paddy land, flouting rules.