Save Uttarakhand From the Builder Lobby

A People’s Friendly Media – To Straighten The Real Estate Mess in Uttarakhand

It is most unfortunate that, Dehra Dun which was once a haven for school children, retired and peace loving people had to yield to the demands and pressures of the times we live in, ever since Uttarakhand was carved out from Uttar Pradesh, in 1999 – 2000. That, Dehra Dun, owing to its available infrastructure, proximity to New Delhi and existing communication centres, was designated as its interim capital; became the final nail in the coffin of its peace, tranquillity, small town culture, a rather laid back life style and bungalows with lichi and mango trees growing in the compound. The visionless government of the newly created state, crowded the limited infrastructure and roads of the city by establishing and locating its working and residential trappings within the municipal limits, thereby burdening the capacity of all civic amenities to the distress of its growing population. Even if Dehra Dun was all that the government of the time was able to look at for its state capital then and being cash strapped in the initial years of its formation; the political consideration to identify Gairsain as its permanent capital was a subterfuge that has pushed the city beyond the threshold of a virtual implosion. Instead of creating a new satellite city in the surrounding vicinity of Dehra Dun to develop and accommodate the requirements of a state capital, the existing city got stuffed with more and more of everything, under the pretext of it being only a temporary arrangement and therefore not prudent to overtly spend unnecessarily on, as it was only temporary.

The city was soon seized by the huge opportunity to cater to the demands of the youth, Nandan Nilekani’s demographic dividend, and exponentially developed on its existing secondary school academic ground swell and potential, in the pattern of Pune and Bangalore, with lush swathes of orchards and agricultural land getting appropriated for more residential schools, deemed universities, colleges and institutes of learning and technical skills. This necessitated extensive construction activity, which put more and more concrete and iron on ground, with buildings going both horizontal and vertical. The presence of these institutions of learning mostly built and run by those who are far removed from education and have very little understanding of anything which is mentally empowering, lured a large migrant population of students from the neighbouring state of Uttar Pradesh, in addition to what is already there. More hotels, dwelling units in multi storied buildings, shopping malls, cinema halls, restaurants, service sector establishments and ancillary facilities followed, thus putting a huge strain on the congested spaces, roads and civil amenities. River beds have been reclaimed and unauthorised permanent / temporary constructions, which house the poor who have come from far and near in search of making a living and finding work in the unorganized sector is a reality, which is both sad and resentful. Garbage and polybags spilling out from the dumping bins installed in the city, is not only a great health hazard with its stench and germs breeding on a 24 x 7 mode, but also a disgusting sight to behold. The daily traffic chaos, which continues to prevail at the crossings in commercial and residential areas alike, is most stressful and a cause of immense environmental pollution and energy wastage. Road rage and intolerance among the youth is growing and the elderly are under a constant threat of being abused, disrespected and hurt by the burgeoning fleet of vehicles moving on the narrow city roads.

Housing, the need for which is always there and the demand becoming more than what is available, has become a gold mine of sorts for all those who deal and prosper from it; by putting up structural monstrosities, which are approved and fall extremely short of the desired specifications, of both design and material. There is an unholy collusion between the authorities and the builders, which is strengthened by bribes given and received, without any sense of mortification or else compunction. While one can understand the greed for money in those who live and breathe by its motivation in business; it saddens both the heart and mind when those who must abide more by the dictates of their conscience and check corruption, with the might of their institutional authority and power vested in their office, instead stoop reprehensibly, to line their pockets with ill gotten wealth. Other than the country’s natural resources, which is being looted and plundered for profit, real estate too has become the second largest wealth generator for those who do deal in it and those who can illegally profit from it, by using the state machinery. We yet again come to the “C” word, which has pervaded the government and private sectors equally and become a ubiquitous phenomenon in all walks of life and living in India  and Uttarakhand.     

It is common knowledge that, huge sums of money change hands for according approvals and completion certificates, between the regulating authority and the builders. How do we put a stop to this, is the big question? To expect something to happen from within the administrative system is asking for the impossible and therefore putting to use the tools of RTI and the Consumer Commission / Forums is probably the answer, which can partially mitigate the sufferings of the people and the citizens. To add to this and leverage the advantage in favour of the people who continue to be cheated by the builders / developers, who work in a silent conspiracy of sorts with the authorities, for handsome considerations; the print media is a potent and effective medium, which should be prodigiously approached and used by all in a spirit of overt solidarity and community living. The print media must claim this responsibility and indulge those who knock on its doors, to open these and bring in the sunshine to cleanse the grime of corruption in real estate. It is then and only then that the huge potential of the media can be exploited to the hilt, to make the sector more transparent and accountable.

Brigadier S D Dangwal

The Ex Servicemen League of Uttarakhand is Angry

A GOON GIVES BODY TO HIS THREAT, AGAINST BRIGADIER DANGWAL

Arborea Luxury Homes, a housing complex on the Mussoorie – Shastradhara by pass road has turned into a den, in which the loutish writ of a goon, Rajesh Negi runs. Ever since this complex was commenced by a Gurgaon based company, Conscient Infrastructure Pvt Ltd and subsequently possession of apartments taken by the owners, Negi has been behaving like a yobbo who has been vandalising people with a no holds barred attitude. It is rather strange that, Conscient which makes big claims about its quality of construction and ethical business practices, has failed to rein in a person who moves in and out of Arborea in his 7 series BMW sedan and is a self appointed ‘bouncer’, who rather settle contentious matters between the owners and the company by threats, abuse and boorish conduct than acceptance and a mechanism to redress the outstanding issues.

 There have been a number of instances in Arborea, wherein the owners and residents have been left absolutely frustrated and disgusted for having made a choice to buy an apartment / live, in this housing complex. They rue that day, when they were inveigled and trapped into signing on the dotted line and make their first advance payment to Conscient, only because they believed what was published in the company’s brochure, shown in the sample apartment and parroted by its marketing executive. Nothing of this could be further from the truth and today the owners feel cheated by an out of Uttarakhand Company that is investing and building some more commercial infrastructure projects in Dehra Dun. One wonders why? A Company that has shown its dark side, in the first of its residential project which it launched in the city, Arborea Luxury Homes should be allowed to further cheat and short-change unsuspecting buyers. It was as a consequence of this poor business attitude shown by the Company, that the RWS and individual apartment owners have filed a petition with the Consumer Commission, Dehra Dun. The case is in hearing and the verdict is awaited.

 While all this is happening, Negi like a loose cannon ball has gone ballistic by giving a threat to Brigadier (retd) S D Dangwal, who is the co owner of apartment E – 102.  The brigadier has filed an FIR dated 14 Oct 2013, against the goon with the SSP, Dehra Dun and SO, Rajpur police station. The matter is under investigation with the police. It seems that, with a view to make the threat operative, Negi used a stratagem to confront and provoke the officer through a proxy of his, another Negi, who is his stooge and the gym keeper in Arborea. It was on 17 th Oct 2013 that, when the keeper misbehaved with and used impertinent language for her husband, Mrs Dangwal, 57 yrs of age and a grandmother to a 9 yrs old boy, called him an idiot and slapped him. At which, he hit her back and got into a scuffle with Brig Dangwal, who intervened to protect his wife from any further assault. This matter too was reported to the SSP and the SO, in an FIR on the same day and is also under investigation.

It is extremely unfortunate that, an incident of such a nature has happened, in which a defence services officer and a veteran has been threatened, his wife assaulted and their dignity assailed by a petty goon and a coward who dare raise his hand on a lady, old enough to be his mother. Where are we going as a society and what have we come to? it is time that the veteran community of Dehra Dun and the media condemn this shameful and reprehensible action and exhort the Chief Minister to ensure that, strict and exemplary action is taken against the culprits, who prosper because of political patronage. Otherwise, this could snowball into a huge movement which could shake the government of Uttarakhand.

Brig S D Dangwal

Clean Up The Real Estate Business In Uttarakhand

WHEN THE FENCE EATS THE LAWN - THEN WHO WILL PROTECT IT FROM DESTRUCTION

(REIN IN THE BUILDER MAFIA)

It was recently that, the Garhwal Post had done a story on the Litany of Complaints which the owners of Arborea Luxury Homes have against the builder, Conscient Infrastructure Pvt Ltd, Gurgaon. In exercise of their individual rights, some owners as also the Resident Welfare Society of Arborea have approached the Consumer Commission of Dehra Dun to redress their long outstanding grievances related with construction, structural, maintenance, financial and related issues on which the builder has not delivered, short changed the unsuspecting buyer and continues to prevaricate. This has become the practice with most builders in Dehra Dun who are coming up with concrete monstrosities on every swathe of empty space, which has become available either through land use change, outright purchase of residential land or else demolition of existing property to make land available for residential complexes. To make matters more difficult for the people, adversely impact the living environment and create a situation, which will in the future surely spell disaster for those who exercise their choice to live in these multi storied residential complexes; the Mussoorie Dehra Dun Development Authority (MDDA) has approved the construction of six floor level condominiums. This in a seismic zone which is prone to earthquakes caused by a shift in the tectonic plates in the sub Himalayan regions. It seems the government of Uttarakhand has not got wise from the recent disaster that visited the hills in June this year and from which, life and living in the upper reaches of Garhwal and Kumaon regions is slowly limping back to normalcy, at a great cost to the life of people and animals who live here. It is most unfortunate that we live in a State which refuses to learn from its past follies and continues to err to the extent of being perceived as downright stupid and ‘dense as a post’. Then, when natural phenomenon, which bring destruction to life and property occur, the government hides behind the hopeless alibi of attributing the human catastrophe to the forces of nature and the wrath of the Gods.  There could not be a more fatuous explanation that can be given for the incompetency, intransigence to learn from the past and complete lack of accountability of the State government. It is the cliched neta – babu – mafia nexus, which continues to pull wool over the eyes of the Chief Minister and his minions, who are blinded by the lure of accumulating lucre for their political survival and by extension the power which flows from it. Uttarakhand will pay a very heavy price now and in the future for the avarice, which its politicians are consumed with and continue to profit from, without a worry for those who have put them to govern.

It is a thought which has been engaging my mind for quite some time and is that, those who live in residential housing complexes must educate themselves about their rights, individually as well as collectively. The RTI is a very potent instrument for eliciting all such information, which can uncover the manipulations that exist between the builders and the approving authorities and therefore must be used generously. While, it is a given that big sums of money are paid for approving unauthorized constructions within a residential complex, overlook blatant violations or else non implementation of the MDDA regulations, not adhere to the requirement of obtaining valid No Objection Certificates from several departments and organizations and completely disregard the mandatory need of a Completion Certificate to be given to the builder only after he has fully met his obligations with regard to the satisfactory completion of the entire project, which is to the satisfaction of the owners of apartments and their RWA / RWS. The compendium of the MDDA regulations is a well conceived document which has been thoughtfully compiled, but it is the violation of these very regulations and its non implementation, with the tacit approval of the same authority that must ensure its implementation. Is this not the story in our country on almost all matters, where the government and its many appendages function by becoming the hedge which instead of protecting the garden eats into it?

It is for the explicit information of all those who intend to buy apartments in the many housing complexes which are emerging in the city at an amazing speed, to ensure that they do not get entrapped by the tall and pompous claims of the marketing executives and the half truths as mentioned in the publicity brochures churned out by these builders. The reality which emerges later and once the payment for the piece of property has been made, changes the equation, making it completely lop sided, hugely imbalanced and in favour of the builder. It is then that the buyer feels duped and cheated and start his travail of running from pillar to post to get his grievances redressed. He knocks on the doors of the MDDA, Consumer Commission, Civil Courts and the management of the company, which sold him/her the apartment, and expects relief from here; which he may or may not get.

The Consumer Commission and the Consumer Forum are the two authorities, which ultimately instil hope in the hearts and minds of most people who petition these. The builders use a ploy to take Interest Free Maintenance Charges, calculated on square feet basis on the covered / super area, from buyers initially and subsequently wash their hands off to create a corpus from this big sum of money, by wrongly and falsely accounting for it and showing it as having been spent on exigencies beyond the control of the builder. This is one of the things, which Conscient Infrastructure Pvt Ltd, Gurgaon has done and the owners of property in Arborea Luxury Homes, Tarla Nagal, Shastradhara – Mussoorie Bye Pass road along with their RWA have petitioned the Consumer Commission, Dehra Dun to get their money back and into the corpus of the Society. Two more important issues which must be examined and looked into by the respective RWAs, must be the No Objection Certificate (NOC) obtained from the Central Ground Water Board for the use of ground water in the absence of municipal water supply and the commitment of the builder for construction of 15% dwelling units of the total number of apartments in the housing complex, for the Economically Weaker Section (EWS) as stipulated in the regulations of the MDDA.

It has come to the comfort of owners of apartments through a Supreme Court judgement and verdict that, builders cannot charge apartment owners for stilt parking and the common spaces that exist in the housing complex are to be transferred to the RWA/RWS. Once the RWA/RWS is formed and the owners have taken possession of their apartments, the builder ceases to have any right over the common spaces. This was published in the Times of India New Delhi / Gurgaon edition, dated 11 Sept 2013. It is rather strange that despite a very unequivocal and precise verdict on a similar case, which was taken up with the Consumer Commission, Mumbai and complete relief given to the petitioner, the builders in Dehra Dun and Uttarakhand continue to do the contrary. The Sales Deeds made and registered with the sub registrar’s office continue to be imbalanced and loaded in favour of the builder/ developer and charges are recovered for stilt parking from owners of apartments.

There continue to be a number of related issues on which the apartment owners feel aggrieved with the builder/developer and fight a long drawn battle in the commissions, courts and quasi government bodies, that draws upon their time, money and energy to little and partial avail. Therefore, it is in the larger and purposeful interest of the people of Dehra Dun and Uttarakhand to come together in a forum which represents the RWAs/RWSs in the city and join hands to break the nexus which exists between the law makers, implementer and breakers, who roam free and with impunity, owing to the power and position they wield in the complex matrix of greed and corruption that prospers in Uttarakhand.

Brigadier S D Dangwal

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