Faridabad complex residents out to teach builders a lesson

The general secretary of the residents’ welfare association (RWA) said: “The developers had to deliver the project in 2006. However,delays in obtaining sanctions and other financial issues postponed the project. Since the developer would have had to pay penalty for the delay as per its agreement with banks and the government,it found an easier option — handing over possession. The builders do not have a completion certificate till date.”

In June 2007,the developer had signed an agreement with the RWA stating that till the time the state government provided an authorised power connection,they would provide diesel for the generators and charge residents at the government rate of Rs 4 per unit. Till date,however,the builder is charging Rs 5.30 per unit.

The residents allege that since 2007 the developer has collected crores in the name of external development charges at the rate of Rs 35 per sq feet,electricity connection charges and interest-free maintenance security at the rate of Rs 20,000 per house. It has been over two-and-a-half years,but the developers are yet to provide any of the facilities they had stated in the agreement. In July this year,the builder had written to the RWA asking them to collect an additional Rs 18 per sq feet before they provided the amenities.

The locality is home to several prominent doctors,including former AIIMS director Dr Venu Gopal,engineers,IT professionals,advocates and retired army personnel. Residents said they feel cheated as they had invested in the project since Omaxe was promoting it.

“If we knew it was a lesser known builder like RPS Associates,we would have never ventured into it,” S C Maheshwari,a businessman who hails from Meerut,said.

As per the Haryana Apartment Ownership Act,1983,it is mandatory on the part of the builder to take responsibility for providing and maintaining basic amenities like water,power,sewerage,roads and streetlighting for a period of five years before handing over charge to the Municipal Corporation of Faridabad. The colony,however,does not even have a proper sewage disposal system. The mandatory sewerage treatment plant installed is insufficient to treat waste collected from all 900 houses. As a result,a pool of sewage water has collected in the Aravalli Hills behind the locality.

“The walls have already started developing cracks and the plaster has started to peel off. Residents have to go for days without electricity as the transformers and cables installed for power supply from the diesel generator sets cannot take the load,” said Dr Ravinder Pandita,laparoscopic surgeon at a private hospital in South Delhi.

“The problems faced by the residents are genuine. But there are certain issues that are politically motivated to defame us,” said Pramod Kumar Gupta,one of the four partners of RPS Associates.

Gupta,along with the other partners — Sawarmal Agarwal,Shanti Prakash Gupta and Rakesh Chand Gupta — have been individually named in the FIR.