Kochi flats: 250 families fully vacated, 30 seek time

As the Kerala government's time limit, given to the 350-odd residents of the flats in Kochi that face Supreme Court's demolition order ended on Thursday, over 250 families have fully vacated the flats.

About 30 flat owners sought some more time to shift household items, while owners of many flats, especially those owned by non-resident Indians, were also yet to be vacated. The government authorities were trying to get in touch with the owners.

Meanwhile, the authorities also found that many of the flats were still owned by the builders or the previous owners, as existing owners had not applied for ownership certificates from the local body. This might affect payment of initial compensation of Rs 25 lakh announced by the Supreme Court to flat owners.

The government is planning to initiate steps to demolish the five high rises by next week.