The Kerala High Court on Monday directed the Kochi Corporation to stop all further construction by the real estate company DLF at Chilavanoor in Kochi and demolish portion of buildings it had constructed in violation of Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) norms.
Justice A.V. Ramakrishna Pillai, while allowing a writ petition filed by A.V. Antony of Kochi challenging the construction, observed that the material now placed on record would abundantly tend to indicate that the Kerala Coastal Zone Management Authority (KCZMA) had not granted CRZ clearance to DLF for constructing buildings on the property.
The court noted that there had been complete lethargy on the part of the Chief Engineer of the Kochi Corporation in ascertaining whether DLF had obtained proper clearance before the Corporation had issued building permit. The court added that building permits were issued in violation of the law of the land by issuing permits in CRZ area. Any construction made in violation of CRZ norms could not be regularised, the court said.
The court further observed that the authority was constituted under various enactments to see that the environment was protected and “to see that the present topography which keeps the ecological balance is not disturbed. The purpose of these laws is to preserve the nature for the posterity. If violations of these laws are allowed to become the order of the day, the existence of life will be at peril. The indiscriminate invasion of nature to the detriment of others is an invasion of right to life. Nature which is the property of the nation cannot be allowed to be scrambled by a minority, violating all laws.”
