MUMBAI, A MONARCH CITY OF CORRUPTION AND DISHONESTY IN REALTY BUSINESS

Mumbai is now crowned as CAPITAL OF CORRUPTION AND DISHONESTY especially in the construction business, perhaps, because of the highest property rates and need of the hour of a common man to buy a shelter for his family.

The gullible buyer, however, is unaware of the facts that later, he may have to encounter the issues like delayed possession, broken promises, breach of trust and cheating, unfair trade practice, deficiency in service, abandonment of projects by the Developers half way, illegal constructions, blatant violation of acts, laws and rules, selling parking, refuge and other free of FSI areas and sale of illegal floors that are common ills these days in the Financial Capital of India. 

This is undoubtedly possible with most powerful and sweet confederacy between the Developers and their Chartered Accountants, Architects, Engineers and Advocates, Local Corporators, Politicians, Underworld Dons, Civic Officials and Local Goons who are on a lookout to garner the fortune on the earth of our beloved Mumbai.

With real estate prices skyrocketing, Developers make use of unscrupulous officials of certain Govt. and Civic Depts., Building Proposal and Building & Factory Department to usurp prime space and make unauthorised alterations to existing structures, misuse of compulsory open space etc. Crore of rupees by way of unlawful gratification change hands in such shady deals and the innocent citizens pay for them with their life & property.

Letters or complaints sent to the Vigilance Department of BMC complaining about illegal constructions turn to deaf ears as any action taken by them against the erring Developers or Builders shall render huge loss to the Civic Officials with regard to the downpour of unaccounted revenues under the table.

The major perpetrators are the inspecting personnel of the Building & Factory Department of concerned Ward Office. The Engineers of this Department never bother to keep a watch on illegal constructions. On several occasions, it has been noticed that the BMC starts an eye-washed proceedings against the erring Developers and the scandals die its natural deaths.

With the realty prices being exceptionally high, Developers doing illegal constructions do not mind paying large sums to the ward staff to look the other way. A posting in the Building & Factories Department is lucratively prized as huge amounts stealthily change hands for the betterment of all concerned.

There are numerous examples of unlawful constructions mushroomed in the City of Dreams. Many hotels take permission to put up the ostensibly temporary monsoon sheds, but they never dismantle them. The regular payments are pocketed by the concerned staff to overlook such illegal edifice.

In one of the prime suburbs of Mumbai, one activist has been opposing an illegal extension made by a shopkeeper next to his shop. The activist said that if the shopkeeper were to buy this illegally occupied 150 sq. ft commercial area, it would have cost him at least Rs. 2.50 crore. But by giving a few lakhs of rupees as bribe to the local ward staff, he’s enjoying prime space at throw away share.

The Dy. Municipal Commissioner anonymously stated that the Ward Officers have no fear because as a policy of the Corporation, they cannot be transferred out of Mumbai. The Government should amend the law so that it becomes possible to transfer a Ward Officer; only then will they act vigilantly against illegal constructions.

He further added that because of such escape routes in employment rules and despite strict instructions from the Municipal Commissioner, Officials of the Building & Factory Department are not taking any action against illegal structures coming up in the city under the guise of repairs permission.

Usually, the buildings which are either in a dilapidated state or need urgent repairs, the landlords of these buildings and small-time Developers who are always on their toe to take advantage of this and apply for repair permission BMC. Once the permission is received, they start raising upper floors while repair work in the lower floors is going on.

No plans are prepared by the Architects and submitted to the Building Proposals Department and no sanctions are sought for Commencement or the Completion Certificates. Every stage of raising illegal floors is done hand-in-glove with Civic Officials, who are well aware of the on-going work.

Such buildings are not only a burden on the existing civic infrastructure like water, garbage, sewerage but also poses danger to the lives of those middle class families residing in them. No scientific approach or engineering aspect is followed while illegally constructing these additional floors.

However, when the Building & Factory Department at the ward level receives any complaint from the neighbouring buildings in the area, officials just send a notice to the Landlord and the Developer to simply put it on record with assurance of no follow-up thereafter.

However, this is done with enough time given to the offenders to approach the Court. The accused party not only approaches the Court well before time but also manages to forge the documents to get a stay order to avoid any action. All this while, the Building Proposals Department is not aware of what is cooking at the ward level nor have they time to spare for non-remunerative activities.

In South Mumbai, especially B, C and E ward, there are hundreds of such old and risk prone buildings which seek repairs permissions and simultaneously carries out full-fledged construction of additional floors without obtaining proper sanctions. This all happens right under the nose of the concerned Building & Factory Department. Officials are well versed with the situation. Even the Ward Officer is aware in some case but never acts, said an Official, requesting anonymity.

One more example is given as to how an originally ground plus one structure at most busy and commercial locality of Masjid Bunder has been constructed where all the applicable norms are blatantly flouted and has rapidly risen to seven storeys. Shockingly, construction work for two more floors is on.

All this has happened right under the nose of the Civic Officials. The Society got managed to get an illegal water connection for the illicit construction. Earlier, the residents of adjoining buildings had alleged that the seven-storey building was drawing water by pumping out the water from already existed pipelines.

The building, which was only ground plus one structure until 2008, had sought permission for repairs. Under this pretext, the Developers added floors illegally and now it has all civic amenities like drainage lines, water and electricity connection.

The land on which the building stands is owned by a Muslim Trust. The Officials of the B Ward are well aware that there have been several complaints against the construction of an unlawful building. Even the Engineers from the Building & Factory Department of B Ward are aware about this illegal construction.

Assistant Commissioner, BMC had approached City Civil Court early this year against the Developer and a stop-work notice was also issued. However, the concerned departments did not take any cognizance and ignored the Court’s Status Quo Order in the matter and the Developer went ahead with the said construction.

The Municipal Commissioner had ordered an inquiry and had asked all departments like Legal, Building Proposals and Building & Factory to control such illegal activities. But, the rules remained only on paper.

The height of mismanagement at BMC is that no one acted on the complaints received. It was learnt that the residents of neighbouring buildings repeatedly visited the concerned departments with complaint letters about the said unauthorized construction but they were turned away, said a B Ward Staffer.

All are now well aware that the BMC shall march forward to demolish illegal floors of the Campa Cola Buildings from 12th November, 2013 following the Court Order as the Supreme Court has allowed the flat owners time only till 11th November, 2013 to find alternative accommodation. The demolition work will begin with the razing of internal walls of the unauthorised flats. It is claimed by the Officials of BMC that occupants of the other flats would not be affected by the demolition work.  

A local MLA of the Bhendi Bazaar– Mohammed Ali Road area says that it is an open secret that Civic Officials are hand-in-glove with the Developers to earn quick money. Further, what is lacking is quality control while the buildings are constructed subjecting to collapse of such buildings prematurely. There is a need for constant quality control at every stage of construction. But there are instances when Developers compromise on quality in order to cut costs.

It is a sorry state of affair that due to absence of stern and punitive measures including imprisonment against the erring officials of BMC working in sensitive departments like Building Proposal and Building & Factory, the unauthorized constructions have engulfed the entire Mumbai. All kinds of elements have entered the construction industry and not all of them give due weight to quality. If a structure collapses within a few years of construction, then it is certainly because of poor quality of material used.

It is the need of the hour that emphasis should be laid on quality control right from the choice of building materials, maintenance of construction norms and usage of the structure and no changes or alterations should be permitted in any structure without seeking technical opinion of a qualified Structural Engineer.

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ILLEGAL AND UNAUTHORIZED CONSTRUCTIONS IN REDEVELOPMENT

As all of us are aware, the redevelopment proposals are grossly undertaken by the Builders and Developers mooted by old and dilapidated buildings of Cooperative Housing Societies, Tenanted Buildings, Chawls, Tabellas, Slums and areas in CRZ in Mumbai Central and Suburbs.

As per the Plot area and the loadable TDR/FSI or Premium FSI in permissible ratio i.e. 1:1, 1:1.3, 1:2, 1:2.5 or 1:3 or even more as applicable under various categories of projects, the Developers begin discussions with the Office Bearers/Architects/Members of the Societies or Landlords or as the case may be, for the redevelopment of their properties.

The Developers offer to the Members, a bigger and posh dream houses with additional carpet area/rooms over the existing ones, displacement compensation for alternate accommodation, corpus fund and eye-catching elevations with latest facilities and amenities etc.

The Developers construct either additional flats or commercial joints on the remaining area available at their disposal on the same plot and sale it in open market to earn the surplus. The Development Agreements and the Power of Attorneys are finally executed between the Societies and the Developers to complete the projects.

Initially, to obtain the IOD/CC from MCGM, the Developers submit the plans to MCGM as per the agreed terms in the Development Agreements executed with the Housing Society.

It has been often noticed that thereafter, during the process of redevelopment, the terms of Development Agreements as agreed upon, the unhealthy attempts with ulterior motives are made by the Developers to twist and grossly violate the rules of MRTP and DCR by unlawful planning and constructing additional and unauthorized areas that are beyond their entitlement (i.e. beyond the plot FSI and the TDR/FSI loaded) for their hidden financial gains. The buyers of such unlawful flats/properties land themselves in deals that lead to litigation at a later date.

At this stage, the Developers submit the amended plans for additional structures to MCGM which are not in conformity with the Development Agreements executed and additional/unauthorized constructions are carried out without informing beforehand or seeking formal approval from the Society's Architect/Society as per the Rules and Bye-Laws or execution and registration of further necessary Agreements to this effect.

The ill-observance of MRTP/MCGM/DCR Rules and guidelines are overlooked by the sympathetic officials of the MCGM and the plans so submitted, are sanctioned without verifying the eligibility or its conformity with the Development Agreements.

The Projects are completed and the Occupancy Certificates are issued without the proper inspection neither carried out by the MCGM officials nor taking pains to verify whether the actual measurement of the constructed areas tally with the final plans submitted.

It is further noticed that upon the completion of the projects, these additional/unauthorized constructions are silently regularized at the last moment by executing the Supplemental Agreements with the Office Bearers of the Societies with green handshakes/offering them handsome rewards.

The Gullible Members of the Societies, unaware of the Laws and Rules, are taken for a ride by the Developers and the satisfied Office Bearers together with their interested associates once the projects are completed and since the Members aim to get themselves re-housed in the redeveloped premises and on the other hand, the hidden financial benefits of such unauthorized and additional areas go to the Developers.

There are numerous news clips in various news papers with regard to Mumbai High Court’s reprimanding and lambasting severely the MCGM for violation of Development Control Act & Rules and are instructed to immediately issue the demolition orders to pull down such unauthorized/additional constructions and take stringent action against the erring officials for their lapses.

Under the Development Control Rules, it has been stated that in case of unauthorized development, the Commissioner shall - (a) take suitable action which may include demolition of unauthorized works as provided in section 53 of the MRTP Act, 1966 and the relevant provisions of the Mumbai Municipal Corporation Act, 1888 and shall take suitable action against the licensed technical person or the architect concerned.

Upholding the law for the welfare of the community is more valuable for society than extra heap of cement and concrete. Plenty of judgments are overlooked by greedy Developers to earn extra money.

On illegal constructions, the BMC had issued a circular, raising the penalty by four times. The rule applies to any addition or alteration made in high rises as well as work carried out beyond permissible limits in housing societies i.e. only up to 15 per cent of the total built-up area of the Residential Societies under redevelopment can be allowed to be constructed for commercial purposes i.e. Offices, Mall etc. This notification marks the withdrawal of the earlier circular that decreed demolition of unauthorized floors without giving the owner or builder a chance to apply for regularization under the MRTP Act.

A classic example is quoted here with regard to unauthorized constructions and how BMC regularised the irregularities of IAS Officers' Housing Society at Andheri (West).

The Kamdhenu complex is owned by the nearby Patliputra Society comprising 50 Members, mostly high-ranking IAS officials.

As per rules, such societies are allowed to utilise 15 per cent of the total FSI for commercial purposes. Permission was taken to construct small shops on a part of the land, but instead, the Developer had constructed a commercial mall Kamdhenu, which was illegal. The free-of-FSI basement, passages, lift rooms, space below the staircase were allegedly merged with the usable area of the mall.

When a BMC survey pinpointed the irregularity, the civic agency gave a written complaint to Versova police, who, after 11 months, registered an FIR against Kamdhenu mall instead of lodging a case against the IAS officers who had been allotted the plot by the government for residential purposes.

The case against the mall was registered under Section 53 of the Maharashtra Regional and Town Planning Act (MRTP), 1966 for carrying out construction without permission. Former IPS officer and lawyer YP Singh, who had been pursuing the case against Patliputra for a decade now, had then alleged that the police deliberately booked the mall without involving the society, which is the actual owner. However, the criminal conspiracy and confederacy of corrupts was given green signal by corrupts only. 

If buildings and malls constructed illegally could be regularised so easily by paying a fine, rich builders could do it every time. Instead, the mall should have been demolished and the IAS officers booked, but BMC legalised it because of their political clout. If it were a poor man's house, they would have demolished it then and there.
"At a time when the civic body is looking to explore fresh sources of revenue, it is only prudent to charge more for unauthorized work instead of demolishing them arbitrarily. The earlier circular was not in line with procedures laid out in the law," said a senior BMC official.

Sections 52 to 54 of the MRTP Act lay down the law to penalize Developers for irregular constructions and regularize unauthorized work.

A 1985 Government circular empowered the civic body with the right to impose a fine on the accused to regularize work carried out beyond the approved plans and the penalty amount can range between 5% and 15% (in four categories) of the Ready Reckoner Rate of the building. The amount is charged on a premium, 25% on the land rates of the project. But the new verdict has now revised the rates, starting from 20% and going up to 100% in the fourth category. "The rise will have a major impact (and act as a deterrent) as even the Ready Reckoner Rates have also gone up manifolds.

Municipal Commissioner knows that regularizing illegal floors in buildings could be a source of big money for the BMC, has also introduced changes in two other categories of the penalty. First, a 30% fine for "change of utility in approved buildings", and a second penalty for alterations, such as illegally added cabins and partitions and unauthorized excavation of project foundations. This last category will invite a fine of Rs 425 per sq. metres from the earlier Rs 400 per sq. metres, with the amount slated for a rise by 5% every year.

The Commissioner has issued a set of 11 rules that nullified the practice of allowing the regularization of illegal floors and filing of a police case for work beyond permissible limit.

Until then, the BMC would issue a notice under Section 354 of the BMC Act and then slap another notice under Section 53 (1) of the MRTP Act, directing the developer to restore the work to the original status and also gives him time to apply for the regularization of floors.

The Members of the Cooperative Housing Societies in Mumbai are required to be vigilant while handing over their Societies for redevelopment to such Developers who, by rewarding the Office Bearers and their associates, carry out the unauthorized/additional constructions for their hidden financial gains which they are not entitled to. When unauthorized constructions beyond the laws are the statutory norms of such intellectually dishonest Developers rather than the exception to the rules, the strict laws of the land have always to be upheld by taking stern actions under the laws.

Housing Societies, please educate yourself and be vigilant from Irregularities and illegalities committed in redevelopment by the Developers, illegal gratifications showered on greedy and corrupt Members of Managing Committees of many housing societies, rampant corruption in BMC, flagrant violation of Rules and Regulations by the Developers, how to beware of cheat and fraud Developers and their criminal and felonious acts.

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60 LAKHS SLAPPED TO BUILDER FOR DELAY

There are numerous complaints from the buyers about the delayed possession when flats are not delivered in tine as documented. What do Builders do when flats are not handed over in time?
It is a long ending tussle between Builders and home buyers that never seems to end delivering projects on time. There are umpteen cases where Builders have taken extra time to finish projects while leaving home buyers to suffer fiscal setbacks.

Imagine a situation where you have booked a posh flat in an apartment complex while paying hefty EMIs and also the rent for the temporary place that you currently occupy. Any delay in getting into your own house obviously means a financial loss.

There are property buyers who say his/her flat’s possession has been delayed by six months or may be more. Even those of reputed Builders’ projects get delayed unexpectedly. The properties buyers are the now considered consumers and finally have got a voice and a forum to air their grievances. Using Consumer Courts, buyers have been able to get back their money with interest or have been financially compensated besides allotment of flats by the sloppy Builders.

One such case has been narrated hereunder, for the information of our beloved readers.

The State Consumer Commission has ordered a Builder to either hand over possession of a ready flat in Kalyan to a couple who had booked it five years ago, or pay them Rs. 60 lakh, the flat’s current market value.

The Maharashtra State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission also directed the builder, Padma Constructions, to pay Rs. 3 lakh to Anant Leetkar and his wife Manjusha as compensation for the “mental agony” and Rs. 30,000/- for the litigation expenses they had incurred.

The Consumer Commission which passed the order during the last week of September, 2013, has given the Builder 3 months to hand over the flat, failing which he will have to pay Rs. 60 lakh.

The couple had booked the 1,047 sq ft (carpet area) flat in Nisarg Anand Residency at Chikanghar in 2008, and the builder executed an agreement for sale after they paid the entire flat cost of Rs18.9 lakh. As per the Sale Agreement, Padma Constructions was to hand over the flat within 18 months from the date of the Sale Agreement i.e. by September 2010.

The Leetkars approached the Consumer Commission after the Builder made no move to handover them the flat they had paid for.

Padma Constructions admitted to the booking of the flat and execution of Sale Agreement, but said the project got delayed because of disputes between Partners of the Firm.

It expressed willingness to hand over the flat to the couple after getting requisite permissions from the Local Town Planning Authority. The Consumer Commission ruled it was a case of Deficiency in Service.  The builder admitted to the booking of the flat and receipt of entire amount of consideration.

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Files Of Bandra - Jogeshwari Buildings Missing From BMC

The BMC’s H-West Ward Office has filed a police complaint saying that the files of 3,474 buildings from Bandra to Jogeshwari have gone missing in just over four decades from 1966 to 2009. This accounts for around 10% of the said belt's 35,000 buildings.

Shockingly, around 10% of the missing files or around 300 files of concerned buildings that are exclusively of lucrative and posh H-West ward i.e. Bandra-Khar-Santa Cruz.

It is contended that a strong nexus between Builders and Civic Officials has led to the files being destroyed because the Builders were illegally allowed to build extra floors and/or commit other violations. Many residents of these buildings are now suffering because they received BMC notices for violations under the Maharashtra Regional Town Planning (MRTP) Act.

The Administrative Officer of the H-West Ward's Building Proposals Department filed the complaint with the Bandra police on May 23, 2013 under Section 9 of the Maharashtra Records Act. The Act says that those responsible for destroying or removing public records can be imprisoned or fined Rs 10,000 fine, or both. One can imagine the volume of penalty compared to the benefits that one must have pocketed for destroying the files.

The police will have to investigate before converting the complaint into an FIR. It is not known who stole the files said a Civic Official of the H-West Ward's Building Proposal Department which compiled the list.

The BMC had earlier issued notices to several buildings in the Western Suburbs for violations of provisions under the Maharashtra Regional Town Planning (MRTP) Act. When the residents asked the BMC for the original building plans, they were found missing. The BMC chief then asked the Office of the H-West ward (Bandra-Santa Cruz) to investigate. The Ward's Building Proposals Department filed a police complaint saying the files of 3,474 buildings from Bandra to Jogeshwari were missing.

In case of three buildings in Khar (W) off Linking Road received MRTP notices. The notices were for alleged illegalities, like construction beyond the approved plans, increasing number of floors and encroaching on flowerbeds and garage spaces. The files of all three buildings were found missing.

The residents of these three buildings are suffering as they have learnt that their building files have gone missing and they are unable to prove any authenticity. In one of these three buildings does not have conveyance certificate as the property rights remain with the developer. It is feared that in case of any untoward incident, the residents would be at a loss.

It is learnt that a huge number of plans under the Transfer of Development Rights Scheme were approved in H-West and K-West (Andheri) Wards from 1995 to 2005. In many, the old structure remained and one could build extra floors over it. Such buildings have the most violations and maybe that provides clue to the missing files.

It is alleged that Developers and Architects connived with Building Proposal Dept. Officials and destroyed the files. In Bandra the Developer had an approved plan for constructing up to only four floors. He then got an Occupation Certificate and a water connection and went on to build three additional illegal floors. The files were reported to have been destroyed.

The gullible flat buyers are now at receiving end. What really required of the Government is that such Architect's licence should be cancelled and the Developer should compensate the flat owners at market rate. The Civic Officials who gave the Occupancy Certificate should be taken to task including heavy penalty and imprisonment and that their salaries and pension should be stopped and this scam must be probed by the Vigilance Department.

It is advised that if citizens are unable to locate their files, an RTI should be filed with the BMC Water Department mentioning the CTS number and name of the road. The list of over 3,000 missing files should be made public. People who want to buy and sell property will be cautious. The resident members who received the notices from BMC must know that notices don't stand legal if files are missing.

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