The Brave Pedestrian

  The river that flows past Casa Rio at Lodha Palava City has been illegally landfilled and is a disaster waiting to happen. In the event of even slightly heavy rains during the monsoons, this river can overflow and cause great damage in vast areas of the surrounding township of Lodha Palava City. ISSUED IN PUBLIC INTEREST BY Krishnaraj Rao 9821588114 and 8169471229 krish.kkphoto@gmail.com Mumbai

  This is a bird's eye view of the sewage treatment plant (STP) that obscured Persiana society's promised view. This video shows the view from the terrace of Persiana, in Casa Rio, which is part of Lodha's Palava City township in Dombivli. The STP that serves the whole of Lodha Casa Rio -- roughly 150 buildings -- now stands in Persiana's front yard. Roughly 40 residents have objected to its smelly, obnoxious presence, specifically because they paid a premium for a view of a cricket stadium. Kirtivardhan Jaiswar, who filed a case in the Consumer Forum for this deficiency in his first floor flat, shows us the view he was falsely promised. ISSUED IN PUBLIC INTEREST BY Krishnaraj Rao 9821588114 and 8169471229 Krish.kkphoto@gmail.com

  A leading member of Persiana Cooperative Housing Society in Casa Rio, Lodha Palava City, talks about the builder's discriminatory, monopolistic dealings and interference in their daily life. Mangal Prabhat Lodha, who is a long-time MLA of the ruling party BJP, is at the helm of affairs, and voters of Mangal Prabhat would be well advised to consider these facts before casting their precious vote. ISSUED IN PUBLIC INTEREST BY Krishnaraj Rao 9821588114 and 8169471229 krish.kkphoto@gmail.com

  Sambhunath Nishad, the contractor who performed the application of tiles in five buildings at Lodha Casa Rio in Palava City, discloses serious quality control issues at the site. Between 2013 and 1016, contractor Sambhunath and his team of around 35 workers applied all the flooring and wall tiles in Mediterranea B and C, and Atlantica B, C and D of Casa Rio. Sambhunath now reveals that quality control was seriously lacking at the construction site, and that the procedures mentioned in Lodha's work order existed only on paper, but were not actually put into practice. For instance, cement slurry and waterproofing that should have been applied to the slabs before application of tiles was not done. As a result, these and other Casa Rio buildings have serious shortcomings which cannot now be remedied. Flat buyers, please note. ISSUED IN PUBLIC INTEREST BY Krishnaraj Rao 98215 88114 and 81694 71229 krish.kkphoto@gmail.com

  Maruti Panchal is a civil contractor who has done the tiles application work in Lodha Casa Rio, in Arctica B, Pacifica C and E of Palava City. He says he has not been paid till date for a large chunk of the work that he did in 2013 on this project, with around 25 workers. Maruti speaks candidly of issues in quality, financial terms and working conditions at the Casa Rio project site. For recovery of lakhs of rupees, he has approached Ministry of Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises (MSME). ISSUED IN PUBLIC INTEREST BY Krishnaraj Rao 9821588114 and 8169471229 krish.kkphoto@gmail.com

  Shrikant Somaiyaji and David Talegaonkar were among the first to come to live in Persiana, Lodha Casa Rio, back in 2015-16. In this interview, they recollect how they felt when their dreams of having a balcony view of a spacious cricket stadium fell apart, and they found their balconies facing a smelly sewage treatment plant (STP). Shrikant and David, who are now secretary and chairman of Persiana CHS, have filed a writ petition in Bombay High Court demanding the removal and relocation of the STP, which has evidently been built without proper permissions from MMRDA and KDMC (Kalyan Dombivli Municipal Corporation). ISSUED IN PUBLIC INTEREST BY Krishnaraj Rao 9821588114 and 8169471229 krish.kkphoto@gmail.com

Many flat buyers of Persiana housing society of Lodha Casa Rio paid a premium for flats that the builder promised would be directly facing a cricket stadium. What Persiana residents got instead was a smelly, sewage treatment plant (STP) right in its front yard. Lodha builders claimed that a change of plans forced them to plonk the massive STP (which recycles the drainage water of the entire Casa Rio complex consisting of roughly 150 buildings) right in front of Persiana. Did Lodha apologize to these flat buyers and offer to take back their flats and refund their money? No. Far from it. Lodha builder continues to abuse his dominant position here in Persiana, as he does everywhere else. He dictates terms to them in all aspects of their lives, including who they hire as their service providers. Flat buyers are expected to be submissive and accept whatever is dished out to them. A small number of flat buyers, however, are not taking things lying down. They have decided to fight for their ...