Residents and AOA heads said the meeting brought out a very different attitude in builders and GDA officials. They actually heard their problems out!
It was a day of hope for Ghaziabad homebuyers. Homebuyers from across the city today poured their hearts out to the ministerial committee set up by the UP government at a meeting held in the Ghaziabad Development Authority office. The three-member ministerial committee led by Suresh Khanna, urban development minister, included cabinet ministers Satish Mahana and Suresh Rana.
Separate meetings were held with buyers and builders. The meeting with buyers saw representatives from over a dozen residential projects. Although about 30 builders were summoned, eight, including Amrapali, Ansal Housing and Value Infra, decided to skip the meeting.
The absent builders have been asked to present themselves in front of the committee tomorrow or face the heat. Calling them out as callous for their absence, the committee said there would be dire consequences for them, including the lodging of FIRs against them.
Speaking to City Spidey, Madhu Kesri, a buyer from Parsvnath Regalia on GT Road, said despite several years of waiting and paying most of the flat’s total price, she still had to live in rented acommodation. Ironically, Kesri decided to rent a flat in the very society in which she purchased a flat. “Since I have to stay in Ghaziabad, I chose to stay in this very society so I can keep an eye on the development of my flat,” she said. “But the flat is far from ready; and what’s worse, since I don’t have possession of my flat yet, people here treat me like a tenant and I am unable to enjoy a flat owner’s rights.”
A livid Uma Agarwal, who had booked a plot with Ansals Housing in 2012, says she was assured delivery in 2013, but despite paying around Rs 22 lakh, she has not received a response from the builder. “Every time I approach their office, there’s no one there to address my issues,” Agarwal said. Minister Suresh Khanna asked her to lodge an FIR, and assured her of action thereafter.
Ajay Walia from Meadows Vista in Rajnagar Extension said that their builder, Value Infra, had only partially completed the society. “The builder is absconding and he has stopped all work at the site. There have even been cases in which one flat has been sold to multiple buyers!” Walia said.
In case of certain projects, residents and buyers at the meeting also offered to construct and complete the stalled projects at their own cost, provided GDA relaxed the project’s pending dues.
Representatives of flat owners, such as FedAOA, also raised the demand for the immediate formation of the Real Estate Authority in the state, so erring builders could be brought to task. Alok Kumar, president of FedAOA, asked the ministers to bring back the undiluted version of the Real Estate Regulatory Act and implement it at the state level. "The RERA website is up in UP, but it is such a sham! It addresses no issues of homebuyers," he added.
The meeting with buyers was followed by a meeting with builders. The ministers issued deadlines to the builders and asked them to complete their projects in due time or face the state’s heat. The committee also issued strict orders to GDA officials to expedite solutions in homebuyer cases and not leave them hanging.
Speaking to City Spidey, residents and AOA heads maintained that the meeting brought out a very different attitude in the builders and GDA officials. “People who would earlier turn a deaf ear to our problems sat patiently listening to everything we had to say. I hope such meetings happen regularly,” said Alok Kumar.
And indeed, the ministers assured homebuyers of regular meetings and said they would try to solve their problems as soon as possible. “We will take measures to solve buyer issues. We have various alternative measures to check the problem. The committee will ensure justice is done,” said Suresh Khanna.
