Tags:
Journalism of Courage
IF you8217;ve been dreaming of a house in the hills, dream on. Eight months after the HP Apartment and Property Regulation Act 2005 came into force ostensibly to make it easier for outsiders to own property in the protective hill state, the fine print and contradictory laws seem determined to keep up the barriers.
So, though 61 promoters registered themselves with the HP Housing and Urban Development Agency HIMUDA to execute new housing projects, only nine8212;including two local concerns 8212;have received licences for their building projects.
8220;Unfortunately, change has not sat very well with us,8221; admits state housing minister Harsh Mahajan, who tried to woo leading real estate developers such as Ansals and DLF to Himachal Pradesh. 8220;Things are unlikely to change. Our laws are still very stringent, procedures lengthy and these are the things that make Himachal a closed territory.8221;
He confirms that some promoters who had earlier expressed interest in Himachal Pradesh have already directed their investments to states that offer attractive packages and easy approvals.
FOR Harsh Mahajan, all hopes are now pinned on the spin-offs of an industrial package, which will now run till 2010 instead of ending in March 2007. Under the package, the state won investments worth Rs 19,000 crore in just three-and-half years.
Baddi, the state8217;s industrial hub, and the adjacent Brotiwala township, are the only sites of housing activity in the state. At least half-a-dozen projects8212;approximately 3,000 flats and housing units8212;are under construction to meet the demand for housing industrial workers and officers.
At present, HIMUDA is building nearly 600 one-room and two-room flats at Baddi for industrial workers; all of them have already been booked. Besides, three industrial units,including leading pharma company Cipla and yarn giant Vardhman, have been granted clearence to build captive housing .
However, the nine promoters issued 8216;Essentality Certificates8217; by the government are not allowed to sell their flats without state government approvals.Says state revenue minister Sat Mahajan, 8220;The housing department cannot take over the functions and powers of the revenue agencies.We are encouraging the builders to construct flats in Baddi for one reason 8212; because there is a huge demand. At the moment, industrial workers and staff have to travel in every day from Panchkula, Pinjore and Chandigarh.8221;
IF Sat Mahajan is believed, except for industrial sector employees, all others interested in buying flats from promoters of private housing projects will sell off their property once prices rise. 8220;It is for this reason that the government has not relaxed its laws,8221; he says. 8220;Everyone buying flats from the promoters8212;except for the single category of industrial sector employees8212;will be required to get government permissions under Section 118 of the Tenancy Act.8221;
THAT the confusion over housing permissions runs deep is evident from HIMUDA CEO Y R Sharma8217;s understanding of the affair. 8220;The state government, through a notification dated November 26, 2005, amended the HP Tenancy and Land Reforms Rules, 1975, to allow private promoters to build apartments after obtaining essentiality certificates. That means those buying the units from these promoters will not be required to obtain individual permissions under Section 118 of the Tenancy Act.8221;
But unless the amendment is adopted by the State Assembly and also duly passed by the President of India, the restrictions of Section 118 will continue to apply on those buying property.
And the revenue minister has the last word. 8220;Essentiality certificates for promoters do not mean that anyone can buy a flat from them without government permission. Come to me before you8217;re caught flouting Section 118.8221;
