ALAPPUZHA: The demolition of Kapico Resorts, a group of villas constructed on the Nediyathuruth Island in Vembanad Lake in Panavally panchayat violating the CRZ regulations, began on Thursday. The Kerala High Court had issued an order to demolish the resort in July, 2013, but the owners approached the Supreme Court against it. The apex court, however, upheld the verdict in January 2020.
“The resort owners agreed to demolish the structures. Debris will be removed from the island without affecting the lake’s ecology,” said District Collector V R Krishna Thej. Revenue officials said two villas were razed in the first phase and the debris was removed to the upland. The demolition will be completed in a phased manner over six months. The entire plan was agreed upon by the resort owners and local body, officials said. As many as 54 villas, main buildings, a swimming pool and other amenities were constructed under the `350-crore seven-star resort project spread across 17.34 acres. Each villa has an area of 350sqft while main building has 17,000sqft. The Cherthala taluk surveyor identified that around 2.93 acres of kayal puramboke were illegally filled by resort owners violating various acts under the CRZ and Paddy Land and Wet Land Act.
The island was home to more than 25 families. Later Eswaran Pillai, a charted account group in Kochi purchased it. Kapico bought it in 2005. S Sarish, a former resident of the island said, his father had to sell their property to Eswarn Pillai and relocate to mainland in Kottayam.
“They purchased the land by giving meagre sum and, sometimes, used force to evict certain families. The group used brokers to purchase land who in turn handed it over to Eswaran Pillai group,” he said. Perumbalam native K Reghu said a case related to the destruction of stake nets due to vessel movement at the time of construction eventually led to the High Court’s demolition order.“Local fishers complained of destruction of net by vessels used for transporting construction material. The contracting companies, however, got into an altercation with fishermen which led to a long legal battle and eventually to the demolition order,” Reghu said.