The Brave Pedestrian

  The issues of the flats at Lodha New Cuffe Parade project having fragile walls, of having drainpipes running through their bedrooms, and of being dangerous -- all these are issues that concern the public. To write articles or make videos about issues that deeply concern the public is not defamatory. It is impossible to anybody to claim that the flats at Lodha New Cuffe Parade -- which cost between Rs 2.5 crore and Rs 7.5 crore, or more -- are standarized and safe constructions. In any case, if Lodha builders have something to say, let them say it out here in the public domain. Let them have the guts to face the public, and say what they have to say out here, in the public domain. Lodha, stop hiding behind the high walls of judiciary. Stop trying to bury the issue behind the high walls of judiciary. If you say I am wrong, and my videos are untrue and unfactual, come out and say it in public, by organizing press conferences and televised debates. I promise I will be there to resp...

  Dipankar Roy, an unhappy subcontractor who installed windows of Lodha New Cuffe Parade, Wadala, and World One, Mumbai, talks about his bitter experiences on the construction site. He talks about unethical practices such as methodically poaching their workmen and not paying their dues, leading to very high turnover of subcontractors and labourers. He opines that Lodha works through several layers or curtains of intermediaries, which effectively means that the dirty work gets done at a lower level. Lodha's hands never get dirty because of this mechanism. This is a Standard Operating Procedure in every Lodha Group site, and in case of other builders also. This is the modus operandi, says Dipankar Roy. If there was a credit score for builders, Lodha Group and its various construction sites would probably score very poorly. ISSUED IN PUBLIC INTEREST BY Krishnaraj Rao 9821588114 and 8169471229 krish.kkphoto@gmail.com

  After residents and I shot a lot of videos at Shilp Thard's flat, and outside also, at Dioro tower of Lodha NCP on Lohri (13th Jan 2019), we left in good humour. The Lodha security and bouncers accompanied us till we were safely out of the gate. At the end of the day, we had both lightened up, and we had no ill feelings towards the watchmen and bouncers, who were only following instructions given by their higher ups. We were cracking jokes in the lift as we departed. Krishnaraj Rao 9821588114 and 8169471229 krish.kkphoto@gmail.com

  We were obstructed from going around the parking basement. It seems Lodha management thinks it can decide the rights of residents like Shilpi Thard, who owns two flats in Dioro worth Rs 6 crore. Has Lodha management declared the rules for residents? They are in Lodha's kingdom, and so they must live within the boundaries of Lodha's unwritten rules. Lodha's subjects have very limited right over the common areas like parking basements, it seems. #LodhaNCP #Lodha #ComeHomeToTheBest ISSUED IN PUBLIC INTEREST BY Krishnaraj Rao 9821588114 and 8169471229 krish.kkphoto@gmail.com

  In a brand-new flat of Palava City, Mr Venkatraman's daughter received a huge electric shock from a switch during the house warming. Mr Venkatraman found the Palava City Management Association (PCMA) personnel unresponsive. ISSUED IN PUBLIC INTEREST BY Krishnaraj Rao 9821588114 and 8169471229 krish.kkphoto@gmail.com

  Flat-buyers who book flats in Lodha New Cuffe Parade, at Wadala, are not allowed to visit their under-construction or under-repair flats "for safety reasons". But the real reason is not safety. The real reason is, Lodha does not want its customers to know the soft and fragile material with which the walls are made. How soft? How fragile? How vulnerable to moisture? Take a look! Roughly 70% of the walls are made of gypsum board or plaster-of-paris (POP). An entire wall of your house at Lodha NCP can be destroyed by accidental spillage of a cup of tea! It does not take more than a tiny pencil-sharpening blade to cut into the material that its walls are made from. And to think that this is what people have paid crores of rupees for! ISSUED IN PUBLIC INTEREST BY Krishnaraj Rao 9821588114 and 8169471229 krish.kkphoto@gmail.com

Lodha Eternis in Marol, Andheri East, is built on litigated land belonging to the Almeida and Misquita families, which they had leased out to Gufic Pharma. The lease expired when the partnership firm of Gufic Pharma was dissolved. The lease also expired when the power-of-attorney under which the lease was granted expired, for a number of reasons. The tenant-cultivators of Almeida and Misquita families continue to stay on the land. Now Lodha, who evidently didn't care much about the legal niceties, took over the land and started building the Eternis project. And now Lodha seems to be resorting to strongarm tactics to force the tenants to leave. ISSUED IN PUBLIC INTEREST BY Krishnaraj Rao 9821588114 and 8169471229 krish.kkphoto@gmail.com Mumbai

This video shows the bathroom of a resident of Muriel CHS, with the water from the upstairs neighbour's bathroom drainage pouring down, after a breakage in the PVC pipeline. The issue with the bathrooms is that, rather than the drainpipes being routed out of the building directly from the bathroom of a flat, they are routed into the gap between the false ceiling and the RCC ceiling of the flat downstairs. In the event of a joint leakage or pipeline rupture, the water will pollute the downstairs neighbour's house, and makes it unlivable. ISSUED IN PUBLIC INTEREST BY Krishnaraj Rao 9821588114 and 8169471229 krish.kkphoto@gmail.com Mumbai

Led by Ramdas Kalan and Baban Tetme, the farmers who live in the villages of Lodha Palava City project area are planning agitations against Lodha Developers and Mangal Prabhat Lodha, a BJP MLA, who they allege has unjustly taken away their lands with little or no payment.

  All is not well in the backyard of Lodha Palava City, where the builder is waging war on the local farmers. In 27 villages in various districts and tehsils in that region, Lodha has taken over land by questionable means, and has cordoned off the farmland, cutting off the right-of-way of local farmers, fishermen, etc, who live in those villages. Military-style concertina wire fencing, of the kind that is deployed on a nation's borders, has been used over hundreds of square kilometres, in ways that can prove deadly to humans, livestock and stray animals. In many areas, the concertina wire fencing is a death-trap. A person can be ensnared in the concertina wire fencing for days before being discovered and rescued. All this is well-known to Maharashtra government and Thane Police. Their silence is complicity in this matter. ISSUED IN PUBLIC INTEREST BY Krishnaraj Rao 9821588114 and 8169471229 krish.kkphoto@gmail.com

  Those who book flats with Lodha are bullied every step of the way. Here is the story of two couples -- one aged and one young -- who booked flats at Lodha Palava and Lodha New Cuffe Parade. Although they paid the bulk of the flat consideration, or even the entire consideration, they are humiliated by watchmen who prevent them from going into the building compound or the tower. Why? Because they refuse to sign a waiver without inspecting their flat. Lodha is using such arm-twisting tactics to force flat-buyers to sign the waiver that gives him a clean chit, saying that they have inspected the flat, are completely satisfied with it, and have no further claims against the builder. If they later discover defects and go to National Consumer Forum, RERA or civil court, Lodha's legal team will use this waiver to discredit their claims and have their case dismissed! The shameful part is that by such tactics, Lodha manages to cow down even the rich and powerful flat buyers, and give t...

  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

  I was invited by a media journalist & photographer, and other residents of Dioro tower to punch and rip into the wall of Shilpi Thard's flat. A big thank you to Shilpi Thard for inviting & facilitating me to demonstrate Lodha's flimsy gypsum board wall construction at her flat. This demonstration of the wall's weakness was performed in the presence of a journalist and a photographer from Mid-Day, a prominent tabloid newspaper. This video was taken from my phone, but the Mid-Day journalist and photographer are also seen taking videos and photos independently. #LodhaNCP #Lodha #ComeHomeToTheBest The article in Mid-Day is available at this link: https://www.mid-day.com/articles/mumbai-walls-of-rs-3-crore-lodha-complex-home-in-wadala-crack-in-a-single-punch/404909 ISSUED IN PUBLIC INTEREST BY Krishnaraj Rao 9821588114 and 8169471229 krish,kkphoto@gmail.com

  Mangal Prabhat Lodha, the patron saint of Lodha Group or Macrotech Developers, is reportedly India's richest builder. As per GROHE Hurun Real Estate Rich List 2018, the personal fortune of Mangal Prabhat Lodha is USD 3.8 billion. According to my calculations, that is INR 26,000 crore. That means more than INR 1,000 crore earned per year of Mangal Prabhat Lodha's 24 year career as an MLA (Member of Legislative Assembly). Or INR 750 crore earned per year of Mangal Prabhat Lodha's 35-year career as a builder. Some questions are begging to be asked. Such as: how much of this 26,000 crore personal fortune was earned by forfeiting booking amounts of flat-buyers of Lodha Palava City, Lodha Upper Thane, Lodha New Cuffe Parade, Lodha World Towers, and other projects. And how much of it was earned by land deals involving the lands of farmers of Dombivli, Thane, Panvel, etc. ISSUED IN PUBLIC INTEREST BY Krishnaraj Rao 9821588115 and 8169471229 krish.kkphoto@gmail.com

  By depriving customers of genuine information and creating a false urgency (Gudi Padwa discount etc) and fake information about scarcity of flats (e.g. last three flats remaining in this project, rest all are sold out!), Lodha's sales team and CRM team cause their customers to take terrible financial decisions that they will regret in the years to come. No matter which project you are tempted to buy a flat in -- Whether it is Lodha Amara, Splendora, Palava, or New Cuffe Parade, please remember that the Sales Team members are NOT your friends, and the Customer Relationship Managers are NOT your friends. They are there to coax, mislead and bully you into paying the first installment, and after that, bully you into paying more and more installments. ISSUED IN PUBLIC INTEREST BY Krishnaraj Rao 9821588114 and 8169471229 krish.kkphoto@gmail.com