Voices from Uttarakhand

CAN WE RUN THE CLOCK BACK FOR UTTARAKHAND AND SAVE IT

The editorial team of Satish Sharma and Ashok Misra of Garhwal Post have done a yeoman service to the State by compiling and writing, Voices of Uttarakhand, a journal which comprises some excellently researched articles, penned by those who know and feel for the Himalayan regions of Garhwal and Kumaon. The articles essentially focus on the humongous tragedy that engulfed the State in the wake of the fury of nature unleashed upon it by the unprecedented rains, the argument over whether it was a human tragedy caused by man’s neglect or else God’s intervention, the ill preparedness of the State Government administration to cope with the situation, the fiasco of the Disaster Management Organization to address the emergency and the ubiquitous presence and sacrifice of the Armed Forces and the Para Military personnel, to prevent the mayhem from further escalating and exacerbating the tragedy.  Anyone, who is genuinely interested to learn about the circumstances, which actually brought about this situation and what can be done by the various stakeholders in the matter, to prevent a reoccurrence or else substantially mitigate the adverse consequences should it happen - then this is a must read. Unfortunately, what has undeniably emerged from the print of all the pages of the journal, without exception, is the callous, inefficient, incompetent, laidback, avaricious, apathetic and loathsome attitude of the Politico - Bureaucrat - Corporate nexus, which is loudly evident in the makings of the tragedy. The people too, to an extent were lured by the opportunity to make a quick buck by getting sucked into the quagmire of corruption, by being a party to it and seeking favours, which were illegitimate and in transgression of the rules which regulate real estate in Uttarakhand. The experts, who have written herein, are very apprehensive of the situation playing itself out yet again and again and the authorities, which should and must be responsible and accountable to the people; do not seem to be serious about the matter at all. 

The mistake that happened in respect of the ill-fated State of Uttarakhand was its statehood as and when it happened. The NDA government, which midwifed the birth of Uttarakhand in 1999, committed a grave error of judgement by granting full statehood to it. Rather, it should have been on the lines of being made a Union Territory, governed and administered by a Lt Governor and his advisors. It was and is the politics of Uttarakhand, which has brought the State to such a pass, where hope is the only constant that enthuses belief in governance. With the bounty of nature, the presence of the four places of Hindu pilgrimage, the rivers and the adventure tourism potential it offers, Uttarakhand is a blessed land that awaits world recognition. The incisive and brilliantly researched and presented articles of Dr Raghunandan Tolia, Sanjeev Chopra, Dhirendra Sharma, Prof B K Joshi, Pawan Jain, Dr V K Bahuguna, Avdhash Kaushal and others is a valuable treasury of ideas for policy formulation and adoption, which should be given continuity, irrespective of the political party which forms the Government. The problem is not that there is a dearth of good and implementable ideas, but instead of realpolitik hijacking these in the political reality which obtains in our democratic system. It is the politics of this State which is its worst enemy and the bête noire of its indigenous people for whom the State was supposedly formed and created. By plunging into statehood right away, instead of travelling the path of a development curve, sustained by the aspirations and interests of its people, which were futuristically hand held by the continuity of a dispensation in a Union Territory, has become our nemesis. If the ideas of people like Dr Raghunandan Tolia and Sanjeev Chopra, who illumine the Indian bureaucracy and have a comprehensive understanding of the ‘Nuts and Bolts’ of the culture, topography, weather and climatic conditions, agriculture and cropping patterns, problems of connectivity etc could only be implemented, the story of Uttarakhand would have been different and its people much better, healthier and happier.     

The challenge, which we face today, can be overcome should there be a consensus among its leaders at a grass roots level to ask for a referendum on reversing the decision of state hood and instead demand the status of a Union Territory, for Uttarakhand. It is only then that some good can come from what is left, because otherwise time is running out fast and furious for this Himalayan Region and the next few monsoons could as well spell a disaster, which will be beyond the capacity and capability of even the Armed Forces and the Para Military Organizations. While I may not be an Oracle, who foretells the doom of my beloved Uttarakhand, but the in your face indications and premonitions, which one gets to see and experience, respectively are definitive and very scary in terms of the human tragedy it will invite, sooner than later. The problem of this State is its very poor polity, difficult conditions, poor economy, lack of an industrial base, scarce agriculture potential of cash crops, corruption and a very mediocre bureaucracy. This gets further compounded with a lacklustre leadership, subservient bureaucracy, growing mafia nexus of the triumvirate and migration of youth from the hills in search of jobs and life enhancing opportunities, in the developed townships of the plains.

The picking is for the people to make, who have the freedom of choice of their actions but not the consequences thereof. Choose now or be prepared to perish in the years to come. The people of the plains will continue to flourish and prosper, but those who are its indigenous habitants will pay a very heavy price for sheer survival. Can Dr R S Tolia and those of his merit and ilk, stand up for the people of the hills to make this happen. 

Brig S D Dangwal 

Pathetic, To say The Least

HOW UNFORTUNATE TO LIVE IN ARBOREA AND SUFFER ITS EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

Arborea Luxury Homes, a residential housing complex on the Mussoorie – Sahastradhara byepass road, developed and constructed by Conscient Infrastructure Pvt Ltd Gurgaon, has been in the news for all the wrong reasons, in the recent past. That, the owners and the Resident Welfare Association (RWA) have gone to the Consumer Commission, Dehra Dun and filed RTIs with the MDDA against Conscient, to redress the perceived wrongs, which they continue to live with, was reported in the print media sometime back. The owners have expressed their anguish and deserving umbrage at the litany of complaints, which they have regarding various matters of poor construction, structural defects, failure to deliver on the promises made in the sale’s brochure, maintenance issues, transparency in the accounting of interest free maintenance fund etc. Thereafter, followed two FIRs lodged with the Rajpur Poice Station and the Camp Office of the SSP, Dehra Dun by Brig and Mrs Neelam Dangwal, in the matter of an implied threat given to the veteran officer by a property dealer who lives in 9 Curzon Road and also has an apartment F – 402 in Arborea; and in the case of assault and affray with a lady by the gym attendant, on 17^th Oct 2013, in front of the complex facility.

   Notwithstanding this, what is more disturbing, shameful and a painful matter, is the poor and pathetic understanding of the latter incident of violence, which seized the understanding of the Executive Committee (EC) and made it to act in an inglorious and despicable manner by not being with and standing up for a fellow RWA member, in the horrific incident that has tarred the name of Arborea, when it happened on that unfortunate morning of 17^th Oct 2013, when a 57 years old lady, a Brigadier’s wife and a grandmother to a 9 years old grandchild was assaulted by an employee, the gymnasium attendant. Without showing any sense of due diligence and equanimity in their thinking, the President, General Secretary, Treasurer, Three Members and a Special Invitee to the EC meeting, while unanimously condemning the incident on 17 Oct, in a most strange turn around and volte face on their decision, completely alienated Mrs and Brig Dangwal by  not supporting them and refused to come together, in a show of deserving solidarity, on 18 Oct. The case was as transparent and clear as can be, assault on an elderly woman by an employee, irrespective of the circumstances which lead to it. But, unfortunately, in the stymied and facetiously loaded and prejudiced understanding of the esteemed members of the EC and the invitee member, it was opined that “It is considered to be a private matter of Brig and Mrs Dangwal and hence the EC does not wish to involve itself with the case” . It is a matter of extreme shame for the two women office bearers in the EC, who could not empathise with the pain and suffering of a fellow lady of the community, who had stood up for her self respect and dignity, in the face of extreme insolence and misbehaviour by an employee and was provoked and incited to slap him. And, at which, the gym attendant hit her back with his full force and might. The conduct, and wisdom or lack of it, of the men in this matter of assault on a lady; who comprise the EC and the special invitee to the EC meetings, is a very sad commentary on the state of the Arborea RWA, which has become so egoistic, insensitive, without moral and physical courage that, they consider a reprehensible act of violence against a lady member of the Society / Association, as a personal matter and not as a just cause to stand up for. It is most shameful that such men tenant office in the EC of the RWA of Arborea and another such man is called as an invitee to its meetings, for rendering profound and intelligent advice. Shame is a very mild and inadequate word to describe this act of such people, who have shamed the RWA and Indian Society at large.

 Mrs Neelam Dangwal, the lady who was assaulted by the gym attendant, has in the exercise of her judicial and civil society rights,taken all necessary actions to bring the guilty to book and have him sent to jail. Surprisingly, the vacuous and harebrained EC and the invitee member, in a most bizarre and ludicrous manner of becoming the investigating authority and the judge, a right which they never had and most gratuitously donned upon themselves, found Mrs Dangwal to be the errant party and hence completely disassociated itself from the matter. These men and women must understand that ‘Truth is its own Defense’ and does not require any evidence to either support it or else establish it. This is the travesty of justice at the routine and mundane level, when unintelligible, incompetent and mediocre people who do not understand the meaning of character and are without the requisite moral fibre to be just and wise, masquerade as self appointed adjudicators and conflict resolvers. The Indian society today is passing through a very precarious stage, wherein the ‘Khap’ style of justice prevails in the bucolic heartland of the country, in which they operate outside the boundaries and constraints of ‘Law of the Land’. The EC and its special invitee are no better or worse than the ‘Khap’. In fact, in the understanding of most people who respect women and show regards for their self worth and dignity; the despicable action of the EC and the special invitee is much worse than the self styled ‘Khap’ kangaroo courts, which are a disgrace to a civilized society in the 21^st century of a modern India.

One wonders, what has happened to the sense and understanding of all those who are literate but continue to remain uneducated. These are the upwardly mobile members of our society who are a stigma to its culture and heritage. We must surely protect ourselves from their shenanigans and not be carried away by their trappings of wealth and material indicators, which while providing them with superficial recognition, are no surety of their having the most rare of sense and which is ‘Common Sense”.

It is for the honourable members of the General Body of the RWA, to bring this matter in its next meeting and ask each and every member of the EC as also the special invitee, to render an unconditional apology to the House, for bringing it to disrepute and grave dishonour. I am certain and sure that given our culture and heritage, which idolises womanhood and respects women, wherein our literature and poetry eulogises a woman’s status in our Society by saying “ Yatra Poojte Nari, Tatra Ramante Deva”( where women are respected, the Gods live there); all sensible and unprejudiced people will uphold the dignity of a woman and castigate the EC for its disgusting, immature and pitiful understanding of their stand, as resolved in its Meeting of 18 Oct 2013.

I feel extremely sorry for the warped and pathetic thinking of all those who were party to this decision and PRAY FOR BETTER SENSE TO PREVAIL IN THEIR PERSON, FOR THEIR GOOD AND WELL BEING.

Brigadier (retd) S D Dangwal

E - 102

Cry My Beloved Country

INDIAN SOCIETY IN PERIL AND PAIN

It is a sad commentary on the state of affairs in which we find the Indian Society, today. The people who comprise our society are virtually sitting on the brink of a disaster that can consume all of us, irrespective of caste, colour, religion, gender, class, rural, urban, literate, illiterate, rich, poor divide et al. The one reason which comes out clearly and emphatically for this state of things is the absence of a National Character and a very poor presence of individual character in its people. The 66 years of Independence from the yoke of British Rule, has pushed us into a situation that stares the country and its people with gloom and despair, should unusual circumstances and happenings not prevent this catastrophe from seizing the masses and metaphorically breaking their back. Of the tangible and intangible possessions which fulfil a person, character is the ‘Jewel on the Crown’ and takes the pride of place in the human personality. India’s democracy, which came to its people rather too soon, without going through the grind and cycle of anarchy, dictatorship and oligarchy, which thrust political equality without the requisite social and economic equality on its people; is the major reason for this reality. Our political class and its mediocre leadership did not make things better by exploiting illiteracy, poverty, religion, social deprivation of its backward classes, caste and an indifferent middle class; to take the people further and further away from their inherent nature that is steeped in principles and values. With the people who care about governance not participating in the process of its formation and those who do not care, alone participating in the process of government formation, meant mediocrity nay worse, in the quality of our elected representatives. Historically, the middle class which determines the values and thinking of any society, failed India by remaining exclusive and thus completely alienating the rural masses which comprise more than 60% of its population. Only when the middle class is willing to empathise with and share the travails and torments of the villagers, in an inclusive manner, thus begetting their trust and faith, will it enlarge its identity and social space. While ‘Nirbhaya’ shook the social conscience of Delhi and the metropolises, with human waves coming out on the roads and streets in a show of solidarity with and in protest against the heinous act of some barbaric men and government apathy in the matter of providing protection to its women, the many indignities, molestations, abuses and rapes which continue to happen in the villages, hamlets, settlements and townships do not create a similar reaction or response. This is the fault line, which keeps the masses away from the genuine social causes and issues, which the burgeoning middle class takes upon itself, but yet is unable to create the ripples in the hinterland and the interiors where the majority of India lives. It is a case of them versus us and a turf war is created where none exists, actually. People posture against people because of this indifference to what happens in the villages; the urban middle class cocooned in their comfort zones, while the rural people suffer. And it is this gap, which the political parties and the politicians fill with their craft and manipulations, entirely to their advantage while assuaging the problem, temporarily or not at all, but giving the requisite sound bites and making tall and unfulfilled promises. This is the space in which the political leaders, bureaucrats, village /tehsil / taluka / block administrative set up and the government agencies that are meant to deliver and provide for the masses are hand in glove, incompetent or else just not interested in resolving the problem. Governance fails and the people are marginalised. Religion, caste, sub caste, language, culture and emotions are used as best these can in an expedient manner to divide people and opinion, which is to the detriment of the community and the problem festers and becomes chronic.

Good governance today, is a dream, only because those who vote to select their representatives both in the Lok and the Vidhan Sabha, are swayed by considerations, which have little to do with calibre, competence and sense of righteousness in their candidates. But, instead, largely by a myopic and prejudiced outlook of all that, which they should not be giving any weightage to, in exercising their franchise. We are getting the type of political leaders and the government, which we deserve. There was a time, in this very same country when men and women of character were its representatives in the government and rectitude, probity, morality, ethics were traits which were evident in their person, both in private and public life. This period was unfortunately short lived.

The people, who should have understood and exercised their suffrage to select candidates of substance, were either arm twisted by the power of muscle or else cajoled by the lure of promises and money, among other considerations as already mentioned earlier. Corporate funding of the political parties, presence of unaccounted for money in the market, the earlier practice of licence permit raj in business and now the authority to grant these licenses being with the government, presence of mafia in most fields of commercial activities in which demand and supply create shortages or are essential to human life, corruption in government spending in which 85% of the money gets siphoned off through implementation leakages etc are many of the evils that we live with and suffer. While the poor and the under privileged, who are uncertain of their next morsel, are easy prey to being inveigled by sops given at the time of elections; it is the middle class and those waiting on the sidelines to join it, who are deeply entrenched in the giving and receiving of graft, which has definitively assailed their character and made it pliable on matters of principles, values and righteous living.

This failing of our middle class is very palpably evident in its attempt to evade income tax, avoid sales tax, pay facilitation fee for getting legitimate work done, bribe to get illegitimate work done, avoid punishment for willing transgressions by using money as a force multiplier, offset failings and lack of merit by paying money to overcome the reality etc and has instilled in these people a life without the virtue of character. This is a huge human tragedy for a country, which calls itself as the largest democracy in the world. It is the aggregate of the individual character which throws up a National Character and we are exceedingly challenged in this. Life without character is second nature to us, quite at variance with our innate Conscience, which is our moral and ethical compass. An Indian today is not willing to stand up against all that is wrong, unlawful, illegal, morally reprehensible and ethically deplorable, but instead is secure in the thought and feeling of being secure on the basis of money alone and not on the strength of character, which should be its never exhausting source of dignity, respect, security and power. One really wonders, in these days of the political parties preparing themselves for the General Elections 2014, will it really matter who forms the government in the Centre, because things are unlikely to change at the fundamental level at which we operate and live. The change if it does happen will probably be a short lived chimera, before we yet again get sucked into the quagmire, we have so assiduously prepared for ourselves in the country called INDIA.   

Brig S D Dangwal

9410900051

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

9410900051

    

Choice Between The Devil And The Deep Sea

Being away in Minneapolis, ever since 10 Jun 2013 on a holiday with our son and nephews, who live here; kept us away from the Indian news channels which keep people abreast with the latest happenings in the country. We missed out real time on the spate of Breaking News, Talk Shows, Debates and News Hour programmes, but did get to watch these online in YouTube or videos. Even by a very economical estimate of the story that were put in the public domain by the premium English news channels, much has happened and is happening in the firmament of Indian society and politics. With the parliament being in its monsoon session and the business of the Houses focussing on the passage and approval of the Food Security and Land Acquisition Bills, the demand of the Opposition from the Prime Minister to make a statement on the floor of the House, in the more than 200 missing files from the Coal Ministry, which are critical to the CBI investigation of the coal scam, the rape of a woman journalist in Mumbai, the charge of rape against Aasaram Bapu and his arrest by the police; are some of these which occupied the electronic space and time of most channels. As if this was not enough to engage the attention and concern of people, the Syria chemical weapons story, its International political ramifications and the American response to the situation, urging the American President to build up a consensus within the Congress and Internationally, to deal with the crisis by a military intervention to degrade the capability and capacity of Bashar Al Assad to use such weapons of mass destruction ever afterwards, is more than what can occupy one’s mind which craves for information about current National and Global happenings . Be that as it may, the one thing which comes forth from the above is the difficult times in which we live and our children are exposed to, when in the formative years of their growth and development. Governance in India has been hijacked by political expediency, wherein public morality has been shown the door to make space for venality and hypocrisy, which mocks and insults the people’s intellect. Political Parties, across the board have cocked a snook at the citizens of the country, by reducing vital matters of National concern into rhetorical slugfests that do not inspire any hope in the people of the country, who continue to remain marginalised on fundamental issues of individual security and human dignity, which must essentially undergird the Government’s commitment to them. While, it can be argued that the right of a political party in a democracy is to reach out to its political constituency with such social welfare schemes as are populous and sustained by the provisions of the Indian Constitution; it can be nobody’s case that this is done when the country is coursing through an economic crisis which negates such an initiative. The fiscal costs of this Bill becoming an Act under the Law, will impose a huge burden on the budget and will create an additional deficit which will require exceptional balancing skills to provide for it, without impinging on other budgeted Heads. It is for this reason that, the President of the Congress Party and the Chairperson of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA), is considered a shrewd political mind who has wisely imbibed the skills of the trade from her mother in law, the late Mrs Indira Gandhi.  There could not have been a better game changer for the Congress, when the country is going into its General Elections in 2014. The Congress will hugely build its election strategy on the largesse of the Food Security Act and Modi bashing, to deflect the country’s attention from the series of scams that have dotted the tenure of UPA II and could puncture a huge hole in its prospects of returning back to political power in 2014. The other major political party, which has the potential to challenge the Congress in the Centre and form a government with its allies in the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), is not doing itself any good by polarising society with its doggedness to go into the General Elections with a Prime Ministerial candidate who is perceived as being communal. Therefore, while there exists a wonderful opportunity for the Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) to go to the people with the promise of a clean and corruption free government, should the NDA be elected to power, it is losing out on this leverage on account of its recalcitrance to be flexible in its choice of their leader in the parliament. However, what has emerged from the sounds of the kettle drums, which are beating on the electronic media, in the verbosity of the spokespersons of most political parties who have their eye on their share of the pie of political power, is a game of one upmanship, blame game and passing the buck. This is not going to serve the genuine interests of the Nation and its people in equal measure, because each of these parties is driven more by a desire for power than a sense of service and are in the ultimate analysis, the same with differently worded manifestos which do not get operational and are an exercise in political subterfuge.The fault in the prevailing circumstances lies more with our System, which does not have an escape valve to break out from the pincer grip of the most evolved form of government – A Democratic Republic.  In our case, unfortunately, this is not working and would require a complete overhaul, surgery and transplant through the instruments and stages of chaos, oligarchy and dictatorship, before finally evolving back into democracy. We as a country need to travel through this journey, before we can finally settle with a System, that best suits our reality, culture, temperament and attitude. It is indeed a very maverick and outrageous line to take, when mulling about the choices that the country has in the given deplorable circumstances of political debaseness and want of an alternate that, makes it a Hobson’s choice.  The burgeoning middle class, which was helped by the growth ushered in by the liberalisation of the Indian economy, must make it their mission to effectively participate in not only a public referendum on the subject of driving the wheels of change, that is inclusive of the class divide that Indian society is riddled with;  but also be the drivers who give leadership to this movement.  In the aftermath of the emergency, a political movement to bring in a change in the government at the Centre was spearheaded by Jayprakash Narayan, but even after 36 years of that happening nothing has changed. And it is my firm belief that, no matter what? Nothing will change either now or else in the future. So, irrespective of all discourses and platitudes which belabour the virtues of democracy elsewhere in the world, we as a country are doomed should we not make a conscious choice to throw in our hat with the devil, than the deep sea. The devil of chaos, oligarchy and dictatorship than the deep sea of democracy. Because, with the devil while we may have a chance to close the circle with meaningful democracy, but without the ability to swim in the absence of the life jacket of economic and social equality, which afflicts Indian society, we are destined to drown and perish. Make your choice now and help build the critical mass, which is similarly inspired to bring about the change we wish to see.

Brigadier (retd) S D Dangwal

5339, W 64 Street, Edina, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA