Gujarat Hardlook | Eviction notices for 5,000 houses under govt scheme — residents have nowhere to go

Last week, 448 residents of 28 towers of Kishanwadi Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) BSUP housing scheme were sent eviction notices by the VMC, continuing its “drive” to identify perilous structures”. The civic body, which has issued notices to over 5,000 families residing in BSUP schemes across the city, said it is also sending “notices” to contractors for “sub-standard quality” of work.

At Kishanwadi BSUP colony on Monday, residents gathered to express their anguish as VMC’s ward office pasted a notice issued under Gujarat Provincial Municipal Corporations Act, 1949, stating that the structure was “dangerous and therefore, not safe to be occupied”.

Several colonies of the GHB, built in the 1990s, are now marked dilapidated by VMC and residents have been asked to repair or vacate the structures.

The notice urged the residents to immediately vacate the units or repair the same. It also warned them not to pass by the unsafe structures as “VMC will not be responsible for the accidents that result thereof”.

No place to go

The residents said they have “no place to go”. One of them, Manjula Parmar, said, “We stayed on rent for four years after our slums were demolished. Now, they have asked us to leave these homes that were allotted in 2011… We are ready to pay the installments that we have been paying so far but the VMC must give us another home. How will families, who live on daily wages, repair such structures?”

The Kisanwadi colony is not the only one that is facing an uncertain future.

Since the beginning of monsoon, the over 5,000 families that VMC has sent notices to included BSUP colonies under schemes as well as complexes constructed by the Gujarat Housing Board (GHB) and the Gujarat Gramin Gruh Nirman Board (GGGNB) about three decades ago.

At Jeevan Nagar on Waghodia Road – part of 2014 Package II of JNNURM BSUP homes – VMC had not just served notice in the monsoon of 2023 but also disconnected basic amenities like electricity, water supply and drainage network to deter 352 residents of 11 buildings from continuing to occupy the flats.

A political intervention and a promise from residents to “repair” the structure led to the notice being withdrawn, only to be served again this monsoon. This time, the residents are aware that the building is ready to give way.

Mangaben Marwari, who works as domestic help while her husband is a painter, has been living in the Jeevan Nagar colony for over a decade. “We took loans twice to cement the slabs but the reinforcement rods are rusting and you can see that the structure is hollow… We live on daily wages. How will we survive without a roof on our head? When we purchased these flats for Rs 58,000, we thought we were being rehabilitated from our slums but now we feel that our slums were safer…”

Another resident, Deepak Kahar, whose mother escaped an injury when the roof had collapsed, works as a daily wage labourer. “The houses here are mostly given on rent by the owners. Some of those who live on the third floor are looking to rent flats on the lower floors, hoping that the entire building will not come crashing down but we are aware that the time has come…,” he said.

Onus on residents

The VMC’s affordable housing department, which looks after BSUP as well as schemes like Mukhyamantri Awas and Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana, passed the onus on to the occupants, stating that the homes have not been “maintained”.

Following the accident in Jambuva colony, the VMC had issued a “notice” to contractor Patel Infra, which had built the colony, consultant MMIPL and Certification Engineers International Limited, a Union government undertaking that carried out third party inspection of the structures before they were allotted and “cleared” in terms of quality
and safety.

According to VMC Executive Engineer (Affordable Housing) Nileshkumar Parmar, the notice directed the contractor to “immediately” repair the structures that have been found to be “sub-standard” although no deadline was stipulated for the same.

While the management of Patel Infra remained unavailable for comment, Deputy Municipal Commissioner Arpit Sagar said VMC is identifying more contractors to issue notices. “We are waiting for our municipal commissioner (Dilip Rana, who is away for mid-career mandatory training in Mussoorie) to return. We will speak to all stakeholders to resolve this issue. The structures have to be maintained and repaired from time to time, which has not been done in most of these colonies.”

Leader of Opposition in VMC, Congress’ Ami Ravat, blamed the civic body for passing the buck. “The VMC is blaming the people for not maintaining the properties but it must explain what kind of repairs were the residents expected to undertake within five or seven years of the flats being allotted… Even mud houses last longer than that and some of these buildings were certified structurally unstable in 2019, within about seven years of being constructed,” Ravat said.

“Moreover, the VMC had to pass on the revolving fund to the residents as part BSUP housing norms. This revolving fund is 12 per cent of the basic cost amount that has already been collected by VMC from the residents at the time of allotment. Nowhere has the VMC handed over this revolving fund for maintenance and repair of the buildings,” she added.

The civic body & the policy

The affordable housing department said that Rs 172 crore of the default installment amount paid by beneficiaries were “arranged” by VMC to complete payments during the process of handover of the flats and therefore, the revolving funds could not be handed over to the beneficiaries.

The issue of dilapidated structures is not restricted to BSUP housing schemes alone. Several colonies of the GHB, built in the 1990s, are now marked dilapidated by VMC and residents have been asked to repair or vacate the structures.

In 2014, Gujarat had come out with its affordable housing policy for the economically weaker sections (EWS), in addition to the then UPA government’s Central BSUP scheme.

In 2016, a redevelopment policy was introduced in Gujarat, which was meant to upgrade the existing housing stock and create additional stock in public private partnership (PPP) mode in regard to housing colonies older than 20 years or in a dilapidated state or where the floor space index (FSI) was not fully used.  However, the GHB, which had floated tenders for the redevelopment of about 15 colonies in Vadodara, has repeatedly been unable to find bidders.

S B Vasava, Housing Commissioner (GHB), said, “We have issued tenders for redevelopment of dilapidated colonies in Vadodara and reattempted the same but no bidders have come forth… It could be due to the fact that VMC has not implemented the transferable development rights (TDR), which allows transfer of FSI to another part of the city for a developer involved in construction of government housing schemes or acquisition of land for government projects.”

“As per the policy, these dilapidated GHB colonies are eligible for redevelopment under the PPP model and the developer will arrange alternate accommodation for the beneficiaries while work is on. The developer also keeps the surplus land for his commercial use and is offered an additional TDR… this has been successful in cities like Ahmedabad and Surat but in Vadodara, it has been an issue.”

Vasava added that under the redeveloped housing colonies, beneficiaries are also entitled to receive a unit with a bigger carpet area than their existing homes.

Manjalpur BJP MLA Yogesh Patel had intervened when around 300 families from Diwalipura housing colony with 928 dwelling units in Tarsali, as well as occupants of 1,200 flats of Marutidham colony in Manjalpur – both under GHB – were asked to evacuate their structures.

Terming the eviction process “unfair and thoughtless”, Patel said VMC was acting “recklessly” and “can cause riots”, as it tries to evict more than 5,000 families. “We have repeatedly told VMC that it must ensure that the dangerous structures are repaired and residents can continue to stay at their homes… These (GHB) housing colonies are old and the land prices are at a premium. It is for anyone to understand how much it will benefit the stakeholders in pushing for redevelopment of these housing colonies under the PPP model,” he said.

While the VMC does not have a full-time town development officer currently, a senior official said that the civic body had, since September 2023, begun offering TDR as a compensation although “no party has accepted the TDR offer so far”.

VMC Standing Committee Chairman Dr Sheetal Mistry said that the question of TDR arises only in case of “disputed” land parcels. “What is the need for TDR in a regular redevelopment project undertaken by a government agency? In case of GHB schemes, the housing board is the landowner while the beneficiaries own the flats. If 75% of the flat owners give consent, GHB can undertake redevelopment where 25% of the land can be given to the developer for commercial use as part of the PPP model… The land parcel itself will be valid for the existing FSI.”

“The question of TDR arises if there is disputed land, with any kind of reservation or land cut required and where the title clearance is not available. In such cases, either the state government can clear the project and if the hitch remains, then we can give TDR… But in the case of GHB, all plots are validated with clear-cut boundaries. We have received no applications seeking TDR for any disputed parcel,” Mistry added.

Blame game on

In regard to BSUP housing schemes, Mistry blamed the occupants for the current scenario. “The BSUP housing schemes are in the present state of decay as these had not been maintained by the residents. Minor leakages and repairs have not been addressed by flat owners and seepage has led to structural weakness… The only way forward is redevelopment, which has to be undertaken by the residents… The VMC can only help in the process but the cost has to be borne by the residents.”

He added that the problem of redevelopment is “complex and tricky”, as beneficiaries have “defaulted” and “sold off” properties without legal sale deeds. “Most of the beneficiaries of BSUP or other government housing schemes are defaulters, who have not paid due installments to the VMC for years. They have defaulted on taxes and also encroached areas… Moreover, many of these dwelling units have been sold by the original beneficiary to other parties without the actual sale deed… In some cases, units have been resold multiple times…,” he said.

Mistry said such owners are not counted as valid owners at the time of redevelopment under any government housing scheme, even if special permission is taken from the state. He further said that VMC’s eviction notices have pushed the residents to undertake the needed repairs. “After we served notices this year and put forth the condition that residents will be allowed to occupy the properties if repairs are made, they have been compelled to go for repair work. In Kishanwadi colony, a leakage from the third floor was left unattended for years. Even in schemes of Diwalipura and Marutidham (of GHB), residents have undertaken repair work…”

“However, it is cosmetic repair and the larger problem has to be addressed but our intention is not to uproot the residents. They are living in a dangerous condition and the onus will be on the officials…,” he added.

Mistry said that VMC can “do little” by issuing notices to contractors, as the “liability period” has expired. “It costs Rs 98,000 per building to get a structural stability report, which we have got done… We cannot pull up the contractors, as the projects were certified fit by the third party inspectors when they were constructed and the contractor’s liability period has ended. At best, we can serve showcause notices but the contractor may not return to repair the building. Whoever owns an apartment has to also undertake repair work,” he added.