Tag: Find Properties in India

Land sharks taking over farmland in Singur, Govt looks the other way

SINGUR: If an alleged sell-off started a historic revolution in Singur, a sell-out now mocks it. Land sharks allegedly protected by two Trinamool Congress leaders are gobbling up large patches of fertile land near the abandoned Tata Nano site.

Driving down Durgapur Expressway these days, you can see these patches of walled-off land. They tell a story no less coercive than the disputed acquisition during the Left Front government. Only this time, it’s worse because the Mamata Banerjee government claims not to see. And unlike the Nano project, where the government is giving a dole to even land labourers, farmers who are being lured/coerced into selling off their land have no one to turn to.

More than a hundred acres have already changed hands between Dankuni and Singur. And this may just be the tip of the iceberg.

The land sharks are breaking every law in the rulebook — and every resistance on the ground. Farmers who refuse to fall for their offers (that never materialize) suddenly see the plots around their farmland being taken up and walled off. Fly ash is dumped on the other plots, which is washed away by rain to adjoining plots, turning them infertile and leaving the farmer with no option but to accept the offer.

Commerce and industries minister Partha Chatterjee claimed innocence. “I am not aware of any such effort in Singur. However, my department will ascertain whether the land has been purchased for industry. In that case, the government won’t allow conversion of multi-crop land,” he said.

Becharam Manna, once a firebrand leader against the acquisition by the Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee government, now sees good reason in the sale of land by poor farmers “for a better price”. Junior agriculture minister in the Mamata cabinet, Becharam says: “All these plots come under the low mono-crop category, fetching little for the owners. As far as I know they yield boro crop only. This could be a reason for the sellout. No one has complained against the purchase.” He insists he “won’t allow anything illegal.” “Land developers have to take permission from authorities before they use it for infrastructure or industry,” he says.

So what is the price on offer? “It’s Rs 40 lakh an acre,” says Sushil Kharkia, spokesman of Shyam Industrial Park, who admits fencing off 50 acres. But farmers have a different story. Primary schoolteacher-cum-farmer Swaraj Ghosh said: “I had five bighas in the fenced area. They gave me Rs 8 lakh for an acre. I had no choice. The land sharks used to come to our place and dictate prices. When some farmers refused to sell their land they dumped fly ash on their land,” said Ghosh.

Compare this with the offer of the Left Front government for the Singur land that Mamata called “forcible acquisition”: Rs 8.9 lakh-Rs 12 lakh compensation per acre, an add-on 50% of the compensation price, plus a government job to each landloser family.

Primary schoolteacher-cum-farmer Swaraj Ghosh said, “The new buyers also promised a job in the warehouses, godowns and the mineral water plant to come up on our land. That was three months ago. They didn’t keep their word.”

The owners of these plots have not even taken permission for conversion in the nature of the agricultural land, which is a must under the West Bengal Land Reforms Act, 1955.

“This is a blatant violation of the West Bengal Land Reforms Act. How could land developers fence the land without taking permission when the Mamata Banerjee government is opposed to illegal conversion of farmland?” said environment activist Kunal Guha Ray. She complained to the Hooghly land and land reforms officer on July 2 that Shyam Industrial Park and SKM Housing Pvt Ltd have gathered 117 acres in five mouzas under Singur and Chanditala police stations. She has mentioned the dag numbers.

“We won’t allow the conversion in the nature of land,” said Hooghly district magistrate Manmit Nanda. Sushil Kharkia is at a loss. “We gathered the land to set up small and medium industry units that the chief minister is harping on. We have built the boundary wall only after registration. Some farmers are unwilling to part with their land that comes within our project area,” he said.

Alarmed by the complaint, police rounded up two land agents from Dankuni and eight persons from Chanditala. “We are investigating the complaints as and when we are getting them and taking steps immediately,” said SP Tanmoy Roy Chowdhury.

Private buyout of land in Singur-Chanditala

1. Two firms have allegedly purchased 117 acres (350 bighas) of agricultural land and wetland

2. Roads have been constructed by filling up wetland with flyash

3. Permission has not been taken for conversion of land

4. Price on offer: Rs 40 lakh an acre, but farmers say it is Rs 8-10 lakh an acre

Acquisition by the Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee government in Singur

1. 997 acres spread over six mouzas in Singur

2. The purpose was to facilitate the setting up of the Tata Nano unit

3. Compensation: Rs 8.9 lakh-Rs 12 lakh per acre, plus 50% of compensation price and a job to each landloser family

Source: The Times of India

Make security measures must in buildings: Citizens

PUNE: Over 15,000 citizens, including members of civic organizations and political parties, have asked the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) to amend the draft Development Control (DC) rules to make security measures mandatory for new and existing buildings in the city in the wake of recent terror attacks.

The views were received through suggestions and objections to the draft Development Plan (DP) for old city areas.

“Pune is vulnerable to terrorist attacks. The state government’s suggestions, which recommend setting up security outposts, fulfilling fire safety requirements and constructing blast-resistant buildings among other things, need to be implemented. Neither the DP nor the DC rules suggest enough steps to meet these requirements,” stated a suggestion.

Following the blast at German Bakery in 2010, the PMC officials had said that the civic body would amend the DC rules making it mandatory for existing and new buildings to have security measures in place. However, no steps have been taken so far.

“Pune is no longer insulated from what’s happening around the world. First it was the attack on German Bakery and then multiple blasts happened on JM Road. Out city faces major security concerns. We insist that the PMC amends the draft DC rules and make required provisions to tackle such attacks on establishments and citizens,” said Rajya Sabha member and NCP city chief Vandana Chavan, adding that the NCP has incorporated this demand in its suggestions and objections document.

A few years back, the state government had appointed an expert committee under former principal secretary of the public works department M V Merani. The panel suggested certain regulations to be followed to ensure better safety in and around buildings. The special regulations envisage security outposts, approach roads with sufficient restraints to prevent direct movement of vehicles towards structures, a control room for security and electronic surveillance operations, light controls, fire-safety requirements and buildings with blast-resistant designs.

The Merani committee’s suggestions were discussed by party leaders in the PMC following German Bakery blast in 2010. One of the suggestions was to make it mandatory for developers to provide their own security set up and make it mandatory for them to submit a security plan with the building permission proposal.

A PMC official admitted that no concrete steps have been taken because the corporators and the civic administration have failed to reach any logical conclusion on the implementation mechanism to be followed.

“The panel appointed to hear suggestions and objections to DP should consider views that recommend improvement in security set up of the city. It is necessary to protect lives of common citizens,” said Ramesh Punde, a witness to blasts on JM Road last year.

City engineer Prashant Waghmare said, “The Merani committee’s suggestions are for public places. However, the PMC has already made it compulsory for housing societies to install CCTV cameras. The PMC will make every possible effort to ensure that security measures are incorporated in the draft DC rules. There are many logistics like cost and maintenance involved in making security measures mandatory and we have to work out the details.”

CCTV proposal still on paper

The PMC had recently approved amendments to DC rules making it mandatory to install 24×7 closed circuit television (CCTV) cameras at public places in the city. However, the PMC is struggling to implement the proposal. As per the proposal, shopping malls, market places, religious and historic structures, hotels, important tourist destinations, exclusive business buildings and offices of government and semi-government organisations would have to install CCTV cameras and make strctural changes to improve fire safety and security on their premises. The PMC has failed to work out implementation mechanism in this case.

Source: The Times of India

Cabinet approves Real Estate Regulatory Bill: All you need to know

The Union Cabinet approved the bill to set up a regulator for the real estate sector with provisions for jail term for the developer for putting out misleading advertisements about projects.

Here are 10 things you need to know about the bill:

1.The Real Estate (Regulation and Development), Bill 2013, seeks to make it mandatory for developers to launch projects only after acquiring all the statutory clearances from relevant authorities.

2.It also has provisions under which all relevant clearances for real estate projects would have to be submitted to the regulator and also displayed on a website before starting the construction.

3.The proposed legislation has certain tough provisions to deter builders from putting out misleading advertisements related to the projects carrying photographs of actual site. Failure to do so for the first time would attract a penalty which may be up to 10 percent of the project cost and a repeat offence could land the developer in jail. Moreover, any false advertising implies that buyers will get full refund of the money deposited with interest.

4. The bill also seeks to make it mandatory for a developer to maintain a separate bank account for every project to ensure that the money raised for a particular project is not diverted elsewhere. According to a CNBC-TV18 report, developers have to keep aside 70 percent of the buyers’ funds in a separate bank account to ensure timely completion of projects. The buyers are entitled to full refund with interest in case of delay in projects.

5. The proposed legislation provides for clear definition of the ‘carpet area’ and would prohibit private developers from selling houses or flats on the basis of ambiguous ‘super area’.

6. Under the proposed new law, builders will be able to sell property only after getting all necessary clearances. Registrations of projects with the regulatory authority is a must. This means developers cannot offer any pre-launch sales without the regulatory approvals. Moreover the authority must approve or reject projects within 15 days.

7. Developers will also be barred from collecting any money from buyers before completing all necessary permits to start construction on the project.

8. Builders cannot take more than 10 percent of the advance from buyers without a written agreement.
9. The bill also seeks setting up of a real estate appellate tribunal for adjudicating disputes. The tribunal will be headed either by a sitting or a retired judge.

10. It also suggests setting up of a national advisory council to be headed by housing minister Ajay Maken to suggest ways to advise the regulator on crucial matters.

Source: Property News India

Realty Bill welcome, but concerns remain: Developers

PUNE: Real estate sector experts have said the Real Estate Regulatory Bill, which was passed by the Union Cabinet passed on 4th june, was a welcome move and will pave the way in bringing higher level of transparency and accountability from the developer community, which for long, has been either self-regulated or working on best practices principles. However, some feel the bill should be understood with reference to business practices prevailing in different parts of the country.

Provisions such as opening a dedicated bank account for every project, strict penal action for delays and registration of brokers have been received well. The bill also provides for mandatory public disclosure of all project details like credentials of promoters, layout plan, land status, carpet area, number of apartments booked and status of statutory approvals, which addresses major concerns of the buyers about incomplete or fraudulent land acquisitions and pending clearances.

Sanjay Dutt, managing director ( South Asia) of real estate consultant Cushman & Wakefield, said the bill would institutionalize the sector, giving it the necessary fillip to move to a new phase of growth and development. “Besides protecting interests of end users, we also see this working positively in terms of attracting investments from domestic and international firms, which were skeptical about investing in Indian real estate sector due to lack of regulation,” he said.

“After the bill comes into force, we may see a noticeable slowdown in launches of new projects in the short and medium run, as getting all the necessary permissions is a long and tedious process. This may delay the entire process of launching a project unless the government comes up with administrative reforms to speed up the proceedings,” he added.

However, Rohit Gera, vice-president of Credai Pune Metro, said while there is a need to set up a better mechanism for customer protection against fly by night operators, practical “on the ground” aspects should also be taken into account. Also, the bill seeks to streamline the real estate business in North India, where the entire transaction process is different, he said.

“Currently, there is a backlog of 18 months for the single committee approving the projects, which require clearance from the environment perspective. I am extremely concerned if each and every project requires approval, which will delay their arrival in the market. This will lead to increased costs being passed on to the consumer. The delays will also create an artificial shortage, which will further increase the prices,” he added.

Hemant Naiknavare, president, Credai Pune Metro, said the union government’s bill has been drafted without really understanding the sector as a whole. “We are still unclear what will come in the bill. The state assembly too has passed the Maharashtra Housing (Regulation & Development) Bill, 2012, which is waiting for Union government’s nod. The state’s bill is approved with a lot of unanimity and we want that the Union government first approves the state bill and when the central bill comes into force, the state bill should be incorporated,” he said.

Firdose Vandrevala, chairman, Confederation of Indian Industry’s national committee on real estate and housing, said, “Retaining amounts realized from customers and placing them in banks would affect the cash flows for projects and more so for metropolitan cities, where land cost component is significant and already paid by the promoter. If at all such an account is to be maintained, the limit should be on the lower side and include payment of interest and EMI pertaining to loans availed for construction of the said project.”

Sticking points

* A possible slowdown in launches of new projects in the short and medium run

* The bill seeks to streamline the real estate business in North India, where the entire transaction process is different

* Retaining amounts realized from customers and placing them in banks likely to affect the cash flows for projects

* If each and every project requires approval, it will lead to increased costs being passed on to the consumer

* Confusion over the bill’s clarity as the state assembly too has passed the Maharashtra Housing (Regulation & Development) Bill, 2012

Source: The Times of India