New Delhi: Even as Gurgaon continues to see a demand
for property by investors and corporates, it clearly has problems to
address — the main ones being bad infrastructure, skewed
builder-buyer agreements and the problem of housing being affordable
only to those in the high income group.
In a chat with Firstpost, executive director, Cushman
and Wakefield India Pvt. Ltd., Manish Aggarwal, said that Gurgaon’s
biggest problem was that of infrastructure and not of dipping buyer
interest.
While Gurgaon’s problems have long been
infrastructure, even though nobody mentioned it or looked into it
seriously, it has finally hit home.
Fraught with water woes, electricity cuts and bad
connectivity, Gurgaon may have some of the top corporates make it
home, but it is no secret that it also doesn’t have much basic
infrastructure.
Most infrastructure in the city is built by its
developers and the least that the government should do is maintain
it, Aggarwal told Firstpost. “Gurgaon today lacks water supply,
power supply, sewage disposal and road connectivity — despite being
sought after by corporates. The government should at the least see
that the infrastructure developed by these developers is maintained
to an adequate level,” he said.
While Gurgaon’s problems have long been
infrastructure, even though nobody mentioned it or looked into it
seriously, it has finally hit home. Reuters
And while the new
masterplan talks about development of areas beyond Gurgaon — to
places like Manesar — where it is again the developers taking
initiative to build roads and sewer systems, Aggarwal said that the
government should make sure that these infrastructure projects are
completed on time so that buyers can enjoy its benefits.
As the real estate sector is not regulated, the rules
the developers play by are only the ones that govern land and its
purchases. “Land is a state subject and different states have
different norms — those are the only norms developers follow to
develop a property depending on which state they want to develop in
and what bye-laws they have to follow,” Aggarwal said.
“In India, because of lack of any real estate
governance or any regulator, every developer has his or her kind of
own builder-buyer agreement — which you would see is tilted towards
the developer’s side and not the consumer’s side,” he added.
However, Aggarwal said that if the government’s
initiative to pass the Real Estate Regulators’ Bill comes through,
it will help decrease that skew and enable consumers to have clear
rights over a property he/she buys from a developer — and to fight
for those rights.
“So effectively builder buyer agreements will be more
regulated and standardised to an extent where they will be more fair
and it will be an equal playing ground for both consumer and
developer,” Aggarwal told Firstpost, “It’s the necessity of the
day and is good for the sector.”
What the bill will bring in is more transparency for
the consumer and the sifting of unscrupulous players in the sector.
“In some places it (the bill) is a little harsh on the builder but
it brings more transparency for the consumer. It will give a boost to
the real estate sector and weed out the unscrupulous people trying to
make a quick buck in real estate,” he said.
Even as India faces a housing shortage of 18.78 million
and the new Union Minister for Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation,
Ajay Maken, saying that vacant houses in the sector imply that the
housing bubble can burst anytime, Aggarwal said prices of residential
properties do need to come down.
“In the last 4-5 years developers have started making
houses catering to the middle income group. However, because land and
developing it became so expensive, they (the developers) were not
able to maintain the price levels that could cater to middle income
housing,” he said.
The problem with that, he said, was that once that
price barrier is crossed then the homes built for the middle income
group become unaffordable for them and hence the vacancy. “While
the specifications of that kind (middle income) of housing was made
for the middle income, the prices have reached a level where only the
high income group can buy it — so there is a disconnect,”
Aggarwal said.
CHANDIGARH: Punjab and Haryana high court on Thursday
deferred the hearing of a case pertaining to the toll plaza of the
Delhi-Gurgaon expressway, as the judge, Justice S K Mittal, who was
hearing the case, was on leave. Now the hearing has been fixed for
November 6.
Earlier on October 17, the division bench of the HC
headed by Justice S K Mittal had issued a show-cause notice to the
Gurgaon’s ACP (traffic) Ravinder Tomar and the HUDA Administrator,
Praveen Kumar, asking them as to why contempt of court proceedings
should not be initiated against them for not complying with the
October 8 orders pertaining to the case.
Both the officers were issued notices for removing the
barricades near the Ambience Mall and permitting an L-turn in
violation of the HC orders.
Apparently miffed with the decision of the HUDA
administrator to remove the blockades in defiance of HC orders,
Justice S K Mittal had observed that HUDA administrator had no
authority to act against the directions of the court. He was not even
the party in the case and if the directions were not suitable or
could not be implemented, he and the ACP could have approached the
bench for modification of the orders.
The court was also upset over the submissions of ACP
(Traffic) Ravinder Tomar, who had deposed before the bench that
directions of the bench had been implemented in right earnest.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/gurgaon/HC-hearing-in-toll-plaza-case-deferred/articleshow/17054919.cms
Builders
must let residents manage their neighbourhood
GURGAON: The Haryana government has decided that the
developer, as defined in the Haryana Development and Regulation of
Urban Areas Act, 1975, shall transfer the administration of the
condominium to its residents’ welfare association (RWA) immediately
after the grant of the occupation certificate.
The builders will also have to transfer administration
in case the DTCP has given “part completion certificate”, a state
government release said on Tuesday. The new rule has come into force
with immediate effect and all the Senior Town Planners and District
Town Planners have been informed for compliance. ,There are many
condominiums for which the colonizers have secured only part
completion and continue to keep all the administration under their
control directly.
There is no timeline for the colonizers to hand over
the administration to the RWAs but the flat owners in Gurgaon have
greeted the development since it paves the way for managing their
condominiums. The state government had swung into action after RWAs
had raised the issue with the Gurgaon Senior Town Planner, R K Singh.
The RWAs had argued that the colonizers had executed
the deed of declaration as required under Section 2 of the Haryana
Apartment Ownership Act, 1983, after obtaining the occupation
certificate but the administration of the condominium remained with
the colonizer.
“The colonizer will take a plea that the project is
not complete and the commercial side is to be developed and delay the
handing over the administration to RWA. So unless the STP takes it
seriously the new rule will not be implemented in letter and spirit,”
said Raman Sharma, president, Gurgaon Progressive Forum.
The flat owners in Gurgaon condominiums have formed
RWAs and there are 67 townships with muti-storey buildings that are
occupied. At present, despite the existence of RWAs in condominiums
the colonizers continue to keep all the records relating to the
project.
Sharma said that new rule favours the RWA but
colonizers were not keen to endorse it.
Explaining the reasons for the reluctance of the
colonizers to hand over administration to RWAs, he said : “Before
the hand-over the colonizers will have to pass on the entire details
of the project that include the super area, common area and other
factors like commercial and basement aspects. Now this will open a
Pandora’s box and result in conflicts.”
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/gurgaon/Builders-must-let-residents-manage-their-neighbourhood/articleshow/17040749.cms
Local
administration blamed for construction around IAF depot
GURGAON: In a hearing in Punjab and Haryana high court
on Wednesday regarding illegal construction taking place within the
restricted 900 metres IAF depot Gurgaon, the defence ministry counsel
blamed the civic agencies for failing to prevent such construction
from taking place.
According to sources, the counsel alleged that no
action was being taken against people who were raising the
unauthorized constructions.
It has been alleged that no monitoring has been done
and the unauthorized construction was being raised in connivance with
the state authorities.
After hearing the case, the court directed the
authorities to conduct an inquiry into whether any fresh
constructions were taking place within the restricted zone. The court
also warned the state authorities that it would be treated as
contempt of court if any new constructions took place in the future.
The district authorities said they were taking the
necessary steps. “I have constituted teams of officers of the
municipal corporation since the action against those involved in
illegal construction in this area is covered by the Municipal Act,”
said deputy commissioner, P C Meena.
Meanwhile, MCG officials informed the court about the
number of illegal constructions they have demolished within a radius
of 900 metres and also stated the action taken against the building
owners, including registering FIRs against some of them.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/gurgaon/Local-administration-blamed-for-construction-around-IAF-depot/articleshow/17040756.cms
Builder
ordered to pay Rs 20,000 to resident for delay
GURGAON: The District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum
has ordered a builder to pay Rs 20,000 as compensation to a city
resident for delaying possession of a flat.
The complainant, M C Goel, had booked a flat at GTM
Residency’s Valley View project in 2005. The project was scheduled
to be completed in 2008, but the construction is still going on.
During the hearing, the builder pleaded that the delay
in completion of construction was due to non-availability of building
material like steel and cement, and the firm’s dispute with the
contractor.
The complainant, however, contended that the dispute
between the builder and contractor is untenable. Goel approached the
consumer forum against the builder for not delivering the flat within
30 months as per the agreement.
The consumer forum held that the complainant has a
valid reason for seeking relief and stated that the builder was
deficient in providing services to the complainant.
The complainant had argued that when the builder
charges 24% interest on delay in payment, so in the case of delay in
delivery, 24 % interest should be paid by the builder to the flat
owners.
The consumer forum relied on a previous judgment of
Supreme Court in which HUDA was made to pay 10% interest to the
complainants for such a delay. The consumer forum ordered that the
complainant is entitled to 10% per annum interest on the amount
deposited by him to the builder from the date of each deposit till
the possession of the flat.
Taking the serious note of the delay, the consumer
forum said that the complainant has suffered agony and thus is
entitled to a compensation of Rs 20,000 and litigation expense of Rs
5,000.
HUDA
chief’s ‘violation’ of HC order may be questioned today
GURGAON: The hearing on the Delhi-Gurgaon expressway
issue will once again come up in Punjab and Haryana high court on
Thursday. There are various issues, including decongestion at the
toll plazas, instructions to National Highway Authority of India (
NHAI) over the time frame to integrate the make-shift split toll
plazas with the main system of toll collection, payment to Haryana
police by the private concessionaire, Delhi-Gurgaon Super
Connectivity Ltd’s (DGSCL) provision of security on the e-way on
which the high court may issue directions.
While reversing its previous direction, the high court
in the last hearing had allowed commuters to take an “L-turn” to
go towards service lanes, the court had issued contempt notices to
Gurgaon ACP (traffic) Ravinder Tomar and HUDA administrator Praveen
Kumar asking them as to why proceedings for contempt of court should
not be initiated against them for not complying the October 8 orders
pertaining to the toll plaza of Delhi-Gurgaon expressway.
Both the officers have been issued notices for removing
the barricades at the U-turn near the 32-lane toll plaza and allowing
vehicles to go towards Ambience Mall while permitting an L-turn in
violation of the HC orders.
This matter will also come up for hearing. The HUDA
administrator had said following the high court’s direction over
installation of new toll booths, that an improvement has been seen at
the 32-lane toll plaza as no major traffic snarl was reported except
for last Monday when toll barriers were removed on four occasions as
the queue of vehicles had crossed the red line fixed by the court.
A DGSCL spokesperson said that around 2,000 vehicles
were allowed to cross the toll gates free of charge in that scenario.
“Due to the blocking of two lanes for VVIP movement for the Indian
Ocean Rim Conference held in Gurgaon and the changes made in the
plaza barricading configuration at the behest of the Gurgaon
administration, there were brief periods of congestion at the toll
plaza on October 29 evening. We ensured that the waiting time for
commuters did not exceed 10 minutes by lifting the boom barriers in
four separate incidents that evening and allowing 1,978 vehicles to
go free of charge,” spokesperson added.
Real
estate firm barred from selling disputed Mumbai property
GURGAON: In a significant development in Ozo Media
Estate Property cheating case, a city has ordered the accused not to
sell off the disputed land located at Andheri (West) in Mumbai.
Earlier, the investors, mostly Gurgaon residents and
NRIs, had registered 17 FIRs against the accused. In the order, civil
Judge cum-metropolitan magistrate, Meenu, stated that the court has
restrained all accused persons from disposing off the property
bearing city survey no 844/1-14 situated at Shah Industrial Estate,
Veera Desai Road Andheri (West), Mumbai which has been used in
commission of offences under different sections of IPC, till further
order.
The complaints had lodged FIRs against the Mumbai-based
company ( Ozo Media Estate Limited) that had taken crores of rupees
by offering commercial space in 2006.
The complainants had claimed that the commercial space
was offered to investors on land measuring 2,545 yards situated at
Andheri West. The investors had paid money but the 25-floor project
did not kick off. The investors registered the FIRs at the DLF Phase
II police station had investigated the case.
The court order has come after long legal battle. In an
application moved before the court, the complainant had stated that
the city court had already taken cognizance of the case against one
of the accused Vineet Handa, which was also upheld by the Supreme
Court. Subsequently the court had directed Handa not to dispose off
with the disputed piece on land. The Punjab and Haryana High Court in
a separate petition had upheld criminal prosecutions against Handa’s
co-accused on 5 October, which paved way for court’s proceedings
against all accused in the case in the city court.
Let
Ashok Khemka head HSIIDC, HUDA: Arvind Kejriwal
GURGAON: IAC activist Arvind Kejriwal Tuesday
challenged the Haryana government to hand over the charges of two of
the state’s urban development departments to IAS officer Ashok
Khemka for two months. Attacking the nexus of IAS officials and the
ruling Congress, Kejriwal demanded that Khemka be given charge of
HSIIDC and HUDA.
Khemka was transferred a fortnight ago after he ordered
scrutiny of United Progressive Alliance (UPA) chairperson Sonia
Gandhi’s son-in-law Robert Vadra’s land records with real estate
major, DLF. Khemka has been transferred 43 times in his 19 years of
service.
Addressing the Kisan Mahapanchayat at Manesar, Kejriwal
said that during the tenure of Om Prakash Chautala as chief minister,
Khemka had opposed the government’s decision to hand over 19 acres
of land in Nathupur village to DLF.
The Punjab and Haryana High Court recently quashed the
deal saying it was illegal, Kejriwal said.
HUDA
working for builders: Arvind Kejriwal
MANESAR: Days after calling Delhi chief minister Sheila
Dikshit an agent of power discoms, India Against Corruption activist
Arvind Kejriwal blamed Haryana CM Bhupinder Hooda on Tuesday of
favouring the builders. He was addressing farmers at the rashtriya
kisan mahapanchayat who had gathered to protest against land
acquisitions from farmers at cheap rates.
“Hooda is working on the behalf of private builders.
He had to change the use of land bought by Robert Vadra so that he
could sell the same land to DLF at much higher price. The chief
minister knew that if he did not change the land use, Sonia Gandhi
would have removed him from his post. Vadra is the son-in-law of not
only the Congress party but he is desh ka damaad. Even the opposition
parties are not willing to say anything against him,” said
Kejriwal.
He also dared the Harayana chief minister to post
whistle-blower IAS officer Ashok Khemka as the director of town and
country planning. “I can challenge that if an honest officer like
Khemka is posted in Gurgaon for just two months, all the ill-gotten
money acquired by Vadra will come back to the exchequer,” he said.
Apart from Kejriwal, other IAC members including
Prashant Bhushan, Yogendra Yadav and Manish Sisodia urged the farmers
to continue their fight against the way the Haryana government is
acquiring their land. IAC also announced that in the coming months a
rally will be organized at the Ramlila Maidan in Delhi, where farmers
from across the country will gather to oppose the Land Acquisition
Act, 1894.
The mahapanchayat was held under the leadership of
retired IAS officer R C Rao.
Kejriwal also challenged the integrity of former
Haryana chief minister Om Prakash Chautala on corruption and said
that he has assets worth over Rs.1,400 crore across the country.
The mahapanchayat demanded the inclusion of
representatives of farmers in the making of a new land acquisition
law.
In Manesar region, villagers are critical of manner in
which the state government had been passing acquired land to private
builders for developing townships and colonies. The region has over
600 acres of land acquired by the state government that is under
litigation.
Attention:
How they manage toll gates on Route 90 in Chicago
Having lived through nerve wracking traffic jams at the
Sirhol toll barrier, I now look with new interest at such facilities
to see how they work at other places. Currently in the US, I was
driven recently through the toll plaza at Elgin on Route 90 out west
from Chicago. The passage through the checkpoint was a breeze.
There were seven lanes on either side. On the extreme
right (this is a right hand drive country) were the ones where cash
is collected manually. The boom at the barrier is raised after the
payment is made. Most motorists try to avoid this with the result
that no long queues form here, too.
Closer to the divider are the three boom-less lanes.
These are the ones used most. You just drive through. There is no
horizontal bar to block the road at all. What you need is an I-Pass,
which is something like the tag we have in India. If you have one of
these, the charge is half i.e.75 cents and there is no waiting. The
cameras read the ‘transponder’ affixed to the wind shield and the
amount gets charged to your account.
It is estimated that daily commuters who use this
cash-less facility save about two hours every week in driving time.
But what happens to the violators? These are of two kinds. First
there are those who have registered and obtained a transponder but
have run out of money in their account. They get a specified time to
settle the charges at the cash rate, which is $ 1.50. If they don’t,
depending on the number of violations, they will pay the charge and a
fine that starts at $ 20 (over Rs 1000).
All infringements are captured on the camera and
motorists who do not have a transponder, but drive through the
cashless lane pay fines starting at $ 100. If they don’t within a
specified time, the license and/or registration of the car may be
cancelled and the recovery of the money is entrusted to collection
agents who do not have a reputation for politeness or courtesy.
On some of the smaller roads toll charges are also
collected not in person, but through metallic baskets. The driver has
to fling the exact change into the basket as he drives along, which
counts electronically what has been proffered and within split
seconds the barrier rises. To use this lane you need to carry the
money in coins. A motorist I know tried to test the equipment by
mixing a rupee coin with the American quarters (they are of the same
size and weight), but it did not work. The boom did not rise until
the deficiency in local coinage had been made up.
Whether such systems will work in India is debatable.
But the basic principle is that people should be given an incentive
to use the cashless facility (which comes at a 50% discount on the
cash charge) and be made to pay a harsh penalty in case they violate
the law. Motorists must see some positive advantage in using the tag
lanes, otherwise why would they go through the hassle of getting the
cards?
Incidentally, toll barriers in the US do not have a
list of VIPs exempt from payment. Robert Vadra will find himself very
out of place here. And the gun wielding MP from Gujarat will get
locked up without a second thought.
Back in India, the advantage of dispensing with cash
transfer at various exits becomes apparent with one look at the
Sikanderpur metro station. As soon as the rush hour train pulls in,
queues that span the entire length of the hall form for the exits.
But even before you can say “Sikanderpur” they are gone. The
reason for this is that no money changes hands at the turnstiles.
Commuters carry either a token or a smart card and they either drop
the first into the slot or flash the second and walk through.
The principle of cashless passage has to be developed
at the toll plazas on the highways as well, to get rid of the
congestion. One option could be to set up a few lanes before the
actual barrier for people to buy single-use tags. Those who have
regular tag cards can skip these lanes and then everybody just drives
through the toll barriers. No cash changes hands. Of course, there
have to be severe penalties for violators. But unless we have the
will and the wherewithal to persecute them, we will have to reconcile
ourselves to the perpetuation of the mess we are in.
Source:http://www.indianrealtynews.com/category/real-estate-india/gurgaon
