Gurugram: Asked to vacate their homes, which were declared ‘unsafe for habitation’ in an audit last month, hundreds of flat owners in the Chintels Paradiso housing society in Gurugram’s Sector 109 are still struggling to come to terms with the loss of their dream home. Against this backdrop, the Haryana town and country planning department cracked down on another builder, Mahira Homes Pvt Ltd, for alleged irregularities in its affordable housing projects that has left more than 5,000 homebuyers in the lurch.
The department earlier this week blacklisted the firm and its subsidiaries, filed an FIR against its owners, suspended two of its licences and issued show cause notices for four others. The action left homebuyers who invested in projects being developed by Mahira Homes Pvt Ltd uncertain about the future of a home they could call their own.
One such homebuyer, Vinod Kumar, who had booked a flat in Mahira Homes affordable complex in Sector 68, shared a picture Friday afternoon in a WhatsApp group of his wife lying on a hospital bed with an oxygen pipe and an intravenous drip. Among the members of this group were officials of the Haryana town and country planning department.
Distressed over frequent visits of bank officials seeking repayment of a loan and the refusal of builders to refund payments made to them, Kumar’s wife attempted suicide Thursday, he claimed in the group. “Representatives from the bank were visiting frequently and humiliating us. There was also very little hope of a refund. After the action against Mahira Homes, my wife lost all hope and took the extreme step,” he said.
Kumar, a salesman who works in Mumbai, told ThePrint that he booked the flat in 2018 by taking a personal loan of Rs 12.5 lakh and added that he applied for a home loan last year to clear the personal loan. According to him, he paid the builder Rs 14.96 lakh.
“When I sought some project-related documents from the builder to be submitted to the bank, he failed to provide them and rather cancelled my allotment citing late payment,” Kumar told ThePrint Friday.
ThePrint reached Sikandar Chhokar, owner of Mahira Homes Pvt Ltd, via calls but had not received a response by the time of publication. This report will be updated if and when a response is received. However, a representative of his firm, who requested anonymity, denied Kumar’s allegations and said his allotment was not cancelled by Mahira Homes.
“The reason for the delay in refunds is that the account from which the payment is to be made has been frozen by Haryana Real Estate Regulatory Authority (HRERA). Today, we have paid Rs 5 lakh to him and also assured him that the remaining amount will be paid soon. I spoke to him in the evening and he was happy with this,” he told ThePrint.
Questioned about the alleged irregularities mentioned by the Haryana town and country planning in its order blacklisting the firm, the company’s representative said they will submit their response to the department’s notices. He, however, maintained that Mahira Homes had done nothing wrong and that the matter at hand will be resolved soon.
Meanwhile, Kumar confirmed that he did receive a call from the representative of the company about the payment and claimed that Rs 5 lakh had been credited to his account Friday.
He added most of the homebuyers who invested in these flats were salaried people like him — earning somewhere between Rs 30,000 and Rs 60,000 — and were all struggling to pay EMIs and rents.
The uncertainty even pushed some homebuyers to protest outside the office of the District Town Planner Friday, while many have been running a campaign on social media, requesting the intervention of the Prime Minister, Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar and other authorities in facilitating the delivery of their flats.
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What did the TCP orders say?
The TCP orders, a copy of which is with ThePrint, said Mahira Homes Pvt. Ltd. had obtained two licences for an affordable group housing colony in Sector 88B, Gurugram, but allegedly failed to get the building plans sanctioned for one of them.
In an order issued on 27 June, T.L. Satyaprakash, Director General (DG), Town and Country Planning, Haryana, said, “License no. 09 of 2022 ( 6.675 acres) and additional license no. 61 of 2023 (3.40 acres) have been granted to Mahira Homes Pvt. Ltd. for development of affordable group housing colony over an area measuring 10.075 acres in Sector 88B, Gurugram.”
“The building plan of the parent license i.e., 09 of 2022 (6.675 acres) was approved on 10.05.2022, however, the plan of the additional license was considered by the Building Plan Approval Committee (BPAC) in its meeting held on 11.04.2023. However, these building plans have not been sanctioned/released till date.”
The order added that it had come to the notice that the “coloniser submitted the forged and fabricated building plans showing the signature of the members of BPAC on the building plans in the Gurugram Metropolitan Development Authority (GMDA), Gurugram”.
“Moreover, Chief Engineer, GMDA, Gurugram based on the forged plans, has recommended the Service Plan Estimates, without ascertaining the sanction of building plans,” read the order.
Calling this an act of cheating and fraud, Satyaprakash ordered the registration of an FIR against the builder and also blacklisted it adding that no application of licence or approvals by the firm be processed.
In another order issued on 28 June, Satyaprakash ordered the suspension of two of the firm’s licences and issued a show cause notice after the department found that the land the firm mortgaged with the bank for giving bank guarantee to the TCP office was allegedly already encumbered with India Bulls Housing Finance Ltd.
The firm was asked to reply to the notice within seven days.
ThePrint reached Satyaprakash via calls and messages but had not received a response by the time of publication. This report will be updated if and when a response is received.
An official of the town and country planning department requesting anonymity, however, said the orders issued by the director general of the department are “speaking orders” (the order that speaks for themselves in a way that tells a reasonable story of their own) and everything is mentioned therein.
Meanwhile, R.S. Batth, an official of the district town planner office at Gurugram, approached the homebuyers of Mahira Homes Sector 68 on the WhatsApp group Friday and offered to connect five representatives of the homebuyers of Mahira Homes Sector 68 with the DG through videoconferencing by Tuesday or Wednesday to address their concerns.
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Kumar not alone
According to Dhruv Kapoor, a homebuyer, as many as 1,497 people have invested in the builder’s project in Sector 68; 1,483 in Sector 104; 800 in Sector 103; 876 in Sector 95; and 636 in Sector 63-A. ThePrint, however, could not independently verify the numbers.
“We have been waiting for our homes in these projects. We request the authorities to ensure these flats are built soon so that we can get our rightful homes,” said Kapoor.
Another homebuyer, Gaurav Gupta said that he was struggling to pay both the EMI and the rent, but he was still hopeful of owning a house someday.
“It is very tough for us, but we are managing somehow. We just hope that our dream of owning a house will come true, but currently, my family is under a lot of stress,” he told ThePrint.
Ritu Bhariok, legal adviser for the homebuyers in Mahira Homes affordable housing project, when contacted by The Print Friday said most of the homebuyers were from a lower middle-class background and they paid up instalments to the builder from bank loans.
“Unless the authorities find an early solution, the families who have invested their hard-earned money on these projects in the hope of a dream house will live in distress,” she added.
If you are feeling suicidal or depressed, please call a helpline number in your state.
(Edited by Richa Mishra)
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