CHENNAI: Confederation of Real Estate Developers Association of India (CREDAI), Tamil Nadu on Monday backed the developers of the four projects in Maradu, Kerala and said it is unfair to portray the builders as culprits when the system is flawed and the State has failed to perform its responsibilities.
Stating that the flats which are ordered for demolition had obtained valid building permits from the respective local body, CREDAI said the present crisis in Maradu flats is due to the unclear CRZ notification, absence of clear guidelines, changes in notifications and the orders of the judiciary at various stages.
“It is a matter of regret that the mistakes pointed out by the Union Environment Ministry on Coastal Management Plan as early as in 1996 is not rectified even after 23 years. It is an injustice to take criminal action against the builders for the drawbacks of the officials and respective authorities like Kerala Coastal Zone Management Authority (KCZMA),” Credai stated.
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“The mistakes committed in the last 23 years ought to be rectified by preparing a proper Coastal Zone Management Plan (CZMP) to protect the interest of the common man and investors, failing which thousands of other small and big buildings in the coastal towns in Kerala which have been developed and substantially built up will also suffer. The Kerala government should order a judicial inquiry into what led to the present situation in the State,” Credai added.
In a statement, CREDAI said that Supreme Court had appointed a three-member committee on November 27, 2018, to examine whether Maradu is in CRZ II or III category. “However, the committee went by the report of a technical sub-committee which had two members of the Coastal Regulation Authority itself who wrongly submitted that Maradu is in CRZ III category as on today, though the facts clearly indicated that it fell in CRZ-II category.”
The sub-committee did not hear the version of apartment owners. Since 1996 since the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MOEF& CC) cleared the Coastal Zone Management Plan (CZMP) for the first time, it had asked Kerala Coastal Zone Management Authority (KCZMA) to correct all the defects of categorisation.
The affidavit submitted by C P Nair, the Chief Secretary in 1997, to Central Environment Ministry said that Maradu and many other panchayats should be in CRZ II category and the affidavit from Maradu Municipality to the High Court in 2007 also says that Maradu is in CRZ II category.
CREDAI said it has a strong objection in the manner in which the Kerala government has handled the Maradu issue. The demolition of flats at Maradu could have been avoided if the State Government had taken a principled approach of highlighting the correct facts and the history of events of CRZ, particularly, the failure of mapping by the Kerala Coastal Zone Management Authority (KCZMA), the statement added.