Chander Kunj Army flats handover for demolition stalled as AWHO representatives fail to turn up

The handover of 208 apartments in towers ‘B’ and ‘C’ of the Chander Kunj Army apartment complex at Silver Sand Island, Vyttila, Kochi, to the Army Welfare Housing Organisation (AWHO) for demolition remains stalled after AWHO representatives failed to turn up as agreed at the meeting of the District Collector-led committee held last week.

The committee, constituted at the direction of the Kerala High Court to oversee the demolition and reconstruction of the apartments, had decided to commence the handing over of the apartments in the presence of the Kanayannur Tahsildar on Monday (October 5, 2026) and complete the process within a fortnight. While apartment owners from various parts of the State, along with the Revenue Divisional Officer and the Tahsildar, assembled at the clubhouse of the apartment complex, AWHO representatives did not turn up.

“Owners from across the State have come for the handing over of their apartments as per a notice issued by the apartment association. We were to hand over the keys of our respective apartments along with an affidavit signed by the AWHO and countersigned by the Tahsildar affirming the AWHO’s undertaking to return reconstructed apartments in place of our existing ones. The AWHO, in turn, is supposed to hand over the apartments to the district administration for demolition,” said Saji Thomas, president of Chander Kunj Army Towers Apartment Owners Association (CATAOA).

District administration sources confirmed that AWHO representatives did not arrive as agreed to take over the apartments in accordance with the decision taken at the committee meeting. The meeting had also resolved that the district administration would sign a demolition contract with Mumbai-based Edifice Engineering later this week.

Reportedly, the AWHO informed district administration officials that it was awaiting authorisation from its headquarters in Delhi.

However, the CATAOA dismissed the explanation as baseless, pointing out that AWHO representatives from Delhi had attended the committee meeting online and were party to the decisions taken there.

“The violation of the district administration’s directives is unacceptable. We have all along been demanding that the provisions of the Disaster Management Act be invoked to ensure that the AWHO falls in line,” said Mr. Thomas.

The Collector’s committee met after the Kerala High Court last month dismissed a petition filed by P.K. Unique Project Limited, a Tamil Nadu-based company, challenging the committee’s decision to award the demolition contract to Edifice Engineering. The High Court had, on February 3, 2025, ordered the demolition and reconstruction of towers B and C of the Chander Kunj Army Towers, citing serious structural deficiencies in the buildings.