Image Credits : DNA

Charging CIDCO & NMMC for corruption and systemic delays in clearance of various real estate development plans, the Builders Association of Navi Mumbai (BANM) protested outside their offices recently. The agitation was sparked by the suicide of Suraj Parmar, a prominent builder on October 7 whose suicide note revealed the harassment he suffered while dealing with various officials for his Thane-based realty projects.

Talking on the subject, Devang Trivedi, BANM said, “there is corruption at various levels in several departments of Cidco and NMMC, causing delays in construction plans.”

The files do not move through a particular department until the officials are given their ‘percentage cuts’, claimed Haresh Chheda, a builder.

The CIDCO spokesperson Mohan Ninawe however, disagreed and said that they are ready to take action against any corrupt official if the affected builders approach them. “We now have a competent vigilance department. Several administrative loopholes also have been tightened to speed up the clearance process. Besides, the number of clearances required to commence a real estate project have been brought down to four from nine earlier. ” He added.

He also stated that the latest online initiative of Cidco, the AutoDCR software, will not only allow them to scrutinize various building plans in advance but also enable developers to showcase their projects properly.

Suraj-Parmar

CREDAI Bangaluru  and its affiliates, in a move to make an urgent appeal to the administration, had shut down all operations across all member companies on October 13 as a mark of respect and solidarity to Late Mr. Suraj Parmar of the Cosmos Group, who tragically ended his life recently.

Suraj Parmar was a well-known name in the field of real estate across Thane – Mumbai region of Maharashtra. His company maintained an extraordinary record in terms of the quality of work, timely deliveries of homes for over 15 years. His demise is an enormous loss for the industry.

Parmar’s suicide note highlighted ways in which the government has been apathetic to the needs of the industry like endemic delays in granting approvals, rejection of plans with retrospective effect, political interference, endless delays in implementation of governmental policies, unusual regulatory changes during an ongoing project, retrospective application of new regulations and so on.

Commenting on the subject, Nagaraj Reddy, President CREDAI-Karnataka said, “It is tragic that a member of our fraternity had to take such a drastic step due to difficulties posed by governmental apathy towards real estate. The objective of this protest is to draw attention of the government to the obstacles that exist and create an enabling ecosystem that fosters ease of doing business in the sector.”

Image Credits: DNA

Usually, the builder community refrains from any protest against the government. However, on October 13, Maharashtra Chamber of Housing Industry (MCHI) and its associate organisations held a peaceful march to show their disapproval & express solidarity on the recent suicide of Thane-based developer Suraj Parmar.

Most of the construction sites and offices belonging to developers were closed on Tuesday. Even architects and real estate agents participated in this protest.

Parmar, the President of MCHI-Thane  was purportedly fed up of the corruption in the system & the resultant delays in project completions. Apparently, he had named the elected representatives & the architects responsible for the suicide but fearing troubles for his Family later, they were removed.