A luxury block of apartments in southern India was demolished today (January 12th) by controlled explosion for violating planning regulations.

In total, more than 350 flats - which housed around 240 families - in the coastal city of Kochi have been brought crashing down since yesterday as the Kerala government carries out one of the largest demolition drives in India involving residential complexes.

The exercise comes after the Supreme Court ordered the demolition of four residential buildings in a posh lakeside location in the city over violation of coastal regulation norms.

A rare stance taken by the law enforcers shows the demolition of a high riser over violation of environment norms in the south Indian state of Kerala.

The incident took place on January 12 in Maradu municipality located in the city of Kochi.

Visuals show the demolition of the 17 storey apartment, Golden Kayaloram, the last among the four other illegal buildings, facing the famous backwaters of the state.

The luxurious high riser is reduced to rumbles within few seconds after the carefully planted dynamites of net weight of 15 kg are triggered.

The blast leaves behind a massive cloud of dust which slowly sweeps into the surrounding area as the crowd gathered to watch the spectacle.

According to the reports, after a long court battle between the government and residents over the violation of the coastal regulation zone (CRZ), the four waterfront property was ordered to be demolished by the Supreme Court of India.

Out of the four, 17-storey high riser, Golden Kayaloram was razed to the ground by the authorities in the morning with the controlled use of dynamites strategically implanting them, so that it doesn't affect the nearby Anganwadi building and an under-construction flat in its vicinity.

The planned execution was delayed due to caution issued by the aerial supervisory after a large crowd had gathered close against the prescribed distance of 200 meters(220 yards) it was asked to maintain.

The explosion of the building was conducted at 2.32 pm after a delay of 30 minutes.