For more than a decade, thousands of people have made their homes in four skyscrapers that sit along an idyllic lakefront in southern India. But now they are set to watch their homes - and their investments - implode before their eyes, following a battle over the environment which went all the way to the Supreme Court.
Alfa Serene and three other buildings - which together house 343 flats and some 2,000 people - will be brought down in implosions later this month. The luxury apartments once housed bankers, executives, film actors and directors, affluent retirees, expatriates and even a media advisor to a senior politician."When I bought my flat, the builders said there was no pending litigation, and this was included in my sale deed," Mr Joseph says."They were cheating us.
Police told the BBC that they had registered a case of cheating against them and have searched their offices. The court has frozen their bank accounts and attached properties. Karunagappally, a lawyer and homeowner, said that because many of the owners live and work in the Middle East, the situation is even more unfair. It is difficult for them to pursue any legal action in India.
KCZMA, created in 1991 to prevent degradation of the coastal and marine areas, alleges permission was given without its mandatory approval.