The Brave Pedestrian

Mumbai, 25th  February, 2016: Common people rarely turn up in good numbers to openly speak out against powerful builders, and so it was an unusual sight that about 200 rich and poor persons aggrieved by RNA Corp (owned by late Anil Aggarwal, Gokul Aggarwal, Anubhav Aggarwal and Saranga Aggarwal) stage a roadside gathering near Versova, Andheri West, to speak out against RNA Builders. In this unusual gathering on the morning of Sunday, 21st  February, 2016, the well-to-do persons were aggrieved buyers who had booked flats in various RNA projects such as RNA Exotica in Oshiwara, and RNA Palazzo and RNA Grande in Kandivali. The poorer participants were those dishoused and dispossessed by RNA's SRA or MHADA redevelopment projects. Many in the gathering boldly voiced their grievances before a handheld video camera, knowing that every word that they said was being recorded for publishing in the public domain. A major chunk of the gathering, who had already formed associations for ...

Cooperative housing societies are really “Uncooperative” housing societies. Argumentative flat-owners, habitually opposing one another, usually accept whatever clauses the developer and his lawyers include – and therein lies the tragedy. The builder usually gives Financial Bank Guarantees, which are more generalized and less safe than Performance Guarantees, and succeeds in safeguarding his own commercial interests, while making a fool of the society and its members. Housing societies, their office-bearers and their members generally have no idea of the financial risks that are being loaded on them. Chronically unwilling to spend money on and accept advice from serious legal professionals (as against aloo-chaaloo advocates), they accept unnecessary risks with a fatalistic statement: jo sabka hoga, woh hamara hoga. (Only those who have been living away from their houses for many years – usually without rent-allowance from builders – have any idea of the seriousness of these dealings...

Appoint Regulators for Redevelopment Industry Download PIL in Word format:  http://tinyurl.com/PIL-against-Redevelopers Also Read: Building Redevelopment: Gaps in Legal Framework & Constitutional Validity SYNOPSIS For the common man, a house is not just the place where he lives. People’s houses are their entire life savings, and the foundation of domestic harmony. It is their security, and the economic foundation on which they base their entire life. The livelihood of many families, the quality of the children’s education and the peaceful lives of retired people, are entirely dependent on their houses. So houses are a matter of life-and-liberty. In the name of de-licensing and liberalization, the government over past decades has withdrawn from its role of providing affordable housing, and has given free play to private developers whose projects are driven purely by profit motive. Also, it has abdicated from its supervisory and regulatory role, and allowed private bu...