The great escape

Take Splendour Country situated along the backwaters of Khadakvasala dam about 28 kilometres from the railway station. A project that “started purely by chance” when Vijay Merchant and some of his friends came here looking for plots of lands for themselves and ended up forming a new company called Sumix Club and Resorts Pvt Ltd that began the country home enterprise. Today it is one of the leading names in this business. Spread over almost 1300 acres Splendour Country holds out promises of plots of land ranging from 6000 sq ft to an acre situated on four levels of plateaus with a breathtaking view of the lake below. Parallel to the concept of these country homes is also the fast developing country club with facilities like cafeteria, squash and tennis courts, amphitheatre, card rooms, billiards, banquet halls, business centre and even a “thinking room”!

The piece de resistance is their three tier swimming pool, the only of its kind in the country, comprising an adult pool, a children’s pool, a health spa, waterfall and jacuzzi situated on three different levels. “We have two architects. Iqbal Channey and God,” smiles Merchant.“Iqbal Channey does 10 per cent of the work and God the other 90!” he adds, making a point about the sheer beauty of the coveted locale.

Along with Splendour Country there are others cashing in. There is Silent Valley and Riverdale belonging to the Happy Homes group that insists that what you are buying from them is nothing but nature. Incidental are a retreat centre, a club christened `Jungle Hut’, a theme restaurant, cricket pitch, boating, trekking, fishing and so on. Then there is Solitude near Panshet and Warasgaon reservoir,offering you “a little space for your dreams” complete with medical facilities, a library, golf course and Indian and Continental restaurants.

Yet another ambitious though yet to be launched project is one tentatively titled the Blue Lagoon. Located about 40 kms from Deccan it has plans to build a 5 star hospital cum resort for tourists from abroad, a marine park, a massive temple and even a boarding school.

So what exactly is being marketed? A new township? A luxurious living space ? Actually it’s whole new lifestyle.“We are not looking for customers, but neighbours” insists Merchant of Splendour Country adding, “We want people who have the right attitude towards life, ecology and environment.”And what about the right attitude towards, ahem, money? Isn’t having a stack of green bucks an indispensable requisite for bagging a portion of the green scape? While some projects, like the yet to be launched Lake city do concede this by candidly calling their project a hill station for the rich and the famous, most deny the classification. Emphasising the fact his plots begin as low as Rs four lakhs for 6,000 square feet, Merchant explains that for people who want to be close to nature even this sum is not necessary as they could instead just take the membership of the club at Rs 61000 and avail of all the facilities available including cottages for overnight stay.

“The country-home concept is one that is really catching on in a big way,” adds Ramesh Advani market consultant for the Happy Home and Blue Lagoon groups.

Nirvana,it seems, begins where the PMC limit ends.