New Delhi: The Kerala government stated in the Supreme Court that they have detected 6,805 cases of violation of the Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) Rules in the initial probe and requested time until September 2021 to verify the same. 

In an affidavit filed by the Chief Secretary, it was made clear that the actions in this regard can be started only after COVID transmission decreases.

While considering the case of Maradu flats, the apex court had ordered the Kerala government to find all violations of CRZ rules and take action. Later, director Major Ravi filed a contempt of court petition pointing out that this order was not implemented. The state government filed the affidavit in response to this plea.

The government filed the statistics prepared by the coastal district committees headed by district Collectors. A total of 27,735 cases were found in 10 districts. Among them, 6,805 cases were violations of the CRZ rules. The government pointed out that this was only a draft list and it will take time to verify the same after field examination.

About 4 months of time is required for completing field examination, 2 months for public hearing and 1 month each for scrutiny and making the final list. It is expected that the verification can be started by January after the COVID situation becomes under control. The process can only be undertaken step by step.

Most number of rule violations were detected in Kollam (2,317). This was followed by Alappuzha (1,283), Kasaragod (820), Kannur (810), Kozhikode (668), Ernakulam (301), Thiruvananthapuram (236), Malappuram (161), Thrissur (145) and Kottayam (64).

Many of them are likely to be under consideration of the court or would have received relaxation in rules. So, it has to be verified through field examination. The affidavit was filed after the bench headed by Justice RF Nariman asked the government to inform the actions taken in the cases of CRZ rule violations in Kerala. The court is likely to consider the case again on November 5.