A hundred 'Campa Cola's' brewing here?

  • Abhishek Behl / FG
  • India
  • Jun 27, 2014

 

Gurgaon's civic woes, which have mainly been caused by the arrogance of the builders, the indifference of the government and the ineptness of the local bureaucracy, can best be resolved if the civil society of the City, its RWAs and individual activists come together to exert pressure on the ‘system’ – and make it deliver on its responsibilities and promises. There is now strong hope that the problems in the Millennium City can get resolved; a number of developments, such as favourable High Court decisions, the dogged determination of local activists, the strong stands taken by some Resident Welfare Associations against developers, and decisions by the Competition Commission of India & COMPAT, augur well. Friday Gurgaon invited RWA Heads from across the City, as also local activists and associations, to share their learnings, confirm status on key civic issues, discuss some nuances (like the Apartment vs. Societies Act) and then decide on some joint actions for the betterment of society. The majority of the participants agreed that while taking legal recourse against the builders and government agencies was a logical step, it might not be enough to motivate the different stakeholders to deliver on their promises. The residents and the citizens of Gurgaon need to push, and many have already started to come out on the streets to protest. The patience of the increasingly frustrated residents is finally wearing thin. 

 Photo: Prakhar Pandey

 

 

Engaging with the local politicians and electing good leaders as our political representatives should be the way forward for the citizens of Gurgaon, said RTI activist Raman Sharma. He emphasised on choosing councillors and MLAs who are educated, and concerned about local issues and the people. As per him no politician, elected member or state government functionary has adequate information or knowledge about the status and problems of Gurgaon with regard to water, power, infrastructure and the many issues with private colonisers. "The authorities had no vision for the City when they planned ‘new’ Gurgaon; there is no plan for a college, hospital, library or any similar civic or social facility. All this has been conveniently handed over to premium private players - despite huge amounts paid as IDC and EDC by the buyers to the government," said Sharma. Talking about his experience in fighting cases at the Lokayukta and the courts, Sharma said that though the legal process takes time, it is effective in pushing the officials and the government. However, considering that some builders have been able to delay the legal process for long, it would be better to not follow a single formula, suggested veteran City activist Colonel SS Oberoi - who has been fighting for the Uniworld RWA on Sohna Road for many years. "Everyone cannot follow the same route, and unlike many RWAs, Uniworld did not take over the maintenance but motivated the builder to come to the negotiating table. We are one of the first RWAs that was able to get the builder to file for the Completion Certificate under the Haryana Apartment Owners Act," he said. Now the RWA has listed all the violations that have been committed by the builder, and is expecting that the same are made good as per the Licence Agreement. An important issue raised by the participants - who included members of Gurgaon Citizens Council (GCC), JAFRA and the Federation of Apartment Owners Association (FAOA) - was the misuse of EWS Housing in group housing societies as well as plots. Col BK Dhawan, President Emeritus of Silver Oaks RWA, categorically said that the EWS housing in condominiums is meant for the service staff that are helping to maintain the apartment complex; and the ownership of these apartments lies with the apartment owners/the RWAs. Despite this, most builders are diverting the EWS apartments to private buyers and making a substantial profit. Advocate Pooja Aganpal, who is legal counsel to a number of RWAs, said that there are predefined rules on EWS Housing, including who all are eligible for allocation of apartments, but these rules have been violated with impunity by the government and the colonisers. "I think there needs to be a major drive organised by the RWAs, to educate the bureaucrats and the police about the different aspects of the Haryana Apartment Owners Act 1983, and how it functions in different contexts," added Aganpal. Often this lack of knowledge and perspective allows the colonisers to take the residents and officials for a ride, alleged the participants.

 Manmohan Suri, President, Fresco Apartment Owners Association, said that there have been multiple problems in their complex - including gas leaks, faulty lifts and shoddy maintenance. "We have approached the police, the DTCP and others, but nothing has happened. A large number of apartment owners have been given possession despite the builder not being issued an Occupation Certificate. This makes the occupation of the towers ‘illegal’, and the residences cannot be insured," rued Suri. Aviral Sethi, member of the Federation of Apartment Owners Association, said that a buyer is forced to take possession because he is paying rent as well as EMIs for the loan that he has taken to buy the property, and is eager to move into his own house. Citing a novel practice, Sethi said that some banks are now linking the payment plan with the ‘legal completion’ of the building. Monica Segan, from BPTP Freedom Park RWA, said that government functionaries would have to seriously monitor the activities of the colonisers, as they have the authority and mandate to curb such violations. Col. Dhawan called everyone’s attention to the fact that even after three decades of the passing of the Haryana Apartment Owners Act 1983, there would not be a single apartment owner in Gurgaon who can claim to have a Deed of Apartment – a document that establishes the ownership in a condominium. "All the properties are being transferred by the builders through conveyance deeds, which are being accepted by the revenue officials, as there is neither the awareness nor the will to implement the law in toto," added lawyer Pooja Aganpal. She added that, for a legal transfer of property the Deed of Apartment has to be registered. She cited the case of Col SC Talwar, who is single-handedly fighting a case with a builder on this issue. Most of the participants felt that the issues related to the Apartment Act and the Haryana Urban Development Act are now being heard by the Courts and other forums in a positive light. However, on these issues there needs to be consensus among the RWAs, to jointly fight their common battles. 

The discussion then shifted to the massive infrastructure problems that beset Gurgaon, and the work being done in the City on local, government and legal fronts to alleviate the sufferings of the people. RS Rathee, President of Gurgaon Citizens Council (GCC), which has been working on the issues of water, electricity and House tax, said that while no exact data on population is available, as per him Gurgaon already has more than 25 lakhs residents. He said that there is a huge mismatch between the capacities being built and what is required by the City and its residents. "It was on a petition filed by GCC that the High Court had imposed a ban on the indiscriminate ‘borings’ in Gurgaon and the use of drinking water supply for construction purposes. Our water table is going down dangerously," stated Rathee. He also pointed out that in the last two decades various pro-builder Acts, rules and regulations have been promulgated. The recent proposed meeting of RWAs and builders with the DC  was also cancelled at the last moment, under questionable circumstances. It is telling, because the Advocate General, Haryana had confirmed to the High Court that the grievances of the residents were being looked into by the DC. Rathee also raised the issue of the lack of power infrastructure, which the private colonisers have failed to set up in their ‘colonies’; they are now claiming that they have ‘paid’ for the same as part of the EDC component handed over to the government. Rathee contended that the government should firmly put the onus on the colonisers to deliver as per their Licence Agreements. The government must spend Rs 1,000 crores in Sectors 1 to 57 out of the proposed spend of Rs 3,000 crores (proposed for power infrastructure) in the new sectors (58 to 115) – where there is hardly any person residing. Dharamvir Yadav, President of Sheetal RWA, which has been fighting the apathy of the builders and government in Mayfield Colony, said that while the onus for power infrastructure is now clearly on the discoms for the new sectors (58 to 115), for the current sectors the responsibility is with DHBVN - provided the payments have been made by the builders. He said that the stand taken by the builders that the power com  ponent is included in EDC is not correct, and it is evident from the fact that DLF has spent it's own money to set up the required power sub-stations in its ‘colonies’. "The requirement in Mayfield has been sanctioned in phases, and despite the massive increase in residents, the power supply is only 5.3 MW. Hundreds of residents have been denied power connections by the power utility, because of the lack of ‘sanctioned’ load", he said. On being denied an electricity connection, one of the Mayfield residents had filed a case against DHBVN, and the Court directed DHBVN to issue notices to builders who have not set up power infrastructure as per their Licence Agreements. Yadav said that, as a result, eighteen colonisers were issued notices, to pay the arrears to the power utility for the creation of infrastructure. Rightfully, these builders should not be allowed to undertake any new projects in the new sectors until they have taken care of deficiencies in the current projects/sectors. Yadav stated that while the battle against the builders is long and hard, it would yield permanent results, when found in the right manner. Satashivan from GCC was of the opinion that it would be better if legal cases were filed directly against government officials and departments like Town & Country Planning, as these stakeholders have allowed the builders to violate the rules with impunity. DTCP is the monitoring and policing arm for new projects; currently it seems to be facilitating arm for the builders. Sachin Gupta from the FAOA also favoured this approach, and said that the huge amount of IDC/EDC funds should be accounted for, and used for setting up the civic infrastructure in the City. The govt needs to be challenged on this. Monica Segan from BPTP Freedom Park said that strong pressure from residents does bring about good results. In their case the builder decided to hand over the maintenance to the RWA. Col. Oberoi mentioned that the Rosewood RWA was able to get work done by putting pressure and approaching the local authorities. Advocate Pooja Aganpal strongly reiterated the need for the local police and officialdom to be educated on the functioning of Group Housing under the Apartment Act. She added that an RWA Grievances Cell should be set up in the Police Stations, on the lines of the Women’s Cell. "While there are hundreds of complaints against the builders, the residents are unable to make the police officials understand the problems being faced by them. The violations by builders need to be registered as complaints by the police," asserted the lawyer. Police need to be on the side of the residents and civil society, rather than threatening them when they carry out protests. Col BK Dhawan, who has been appointed Special Police Officer, said that the communication between the police and residents is negligible, as a result of which the authorities are not aware - or do not want to be aware - of the problems being faced by the people. Captain Jalaj Srivats, Secretary, Legend RWA, opined that there is need for all the associations to come together on a single platform to put pressure on the government, as well as fight the legal and other cases at various fora. It was also suggested that a permanent Helpline could be set to provide legal and other advice to residents/RWAs that are facing problems. Srivats said that civil society should remain united for the cause of residents; the voice of the people needs to be clearly heard, The participants also agreed on the need for networking with the local politicians, especially with State elections due within a few months. Sachin Gupta said that there was need for people to support good candidates from within (RWAs), and also those who were fighting on behalf of them through different civil society platforms. Manmohan Sur opined that such discussions should be held on a monthly basis, to try and forge a common opinion and create a platform that would have a singular vision. Concluding the discussion, Friday Gurgaon said that times are changing and people in Gurgaon need to take advantage of the fact that political parties, civil groups and even corporates have realised the importance of being socially responsible and accountable (especially for local issues and problems).



 

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