www.redevelopmentofhousingsociety.com
REDEVELOPMENT - ALL THAT GLITTER IS NOT GOLD
While the open plots in Mumbai no more available to the developers
for constructions, the Redevelopment scheme within last few years that has hit
Mumbai with great potential. However, it is bitter fact that by and large, when
the proposal of redevelopment is taken up for decision in a General Meeting,
has culminated in disagreement from Members of the Society time and again.
Every Housing Society need to know that in Redevelopment of
Housing Society - all that glitter is not gold. Redevelopment projects have
often collapsed due to the growing demands of the Members in majority. There is
a high level of diffidence among the Members when the idea of Redevelopment
is proposed. There is persistent fear of insecurity whether the developer will
deliver the redeveloped property or leave it intermediately.
First and foremost, the Housing Society Members must ensure
that their Office Bearers and the Members of the Managing Committee are elected
as per the provisions of Maharashtra Co-operative Societies Act, Rules and
Bye-Laws. In short, please ensure that the entire Managing Committee is
lawfully constituted.
There are numerous instances where firstly, the Members of
the Managing Committee are hooked and enticed of unlawful gratifications in
substantial amount by certain unscrupulous developers and use these Managing
Committee Members as their agents to pursue and pass over the rosy dreams and
benefits to innocent Members of the Society and criminally ensure that the
redevelopment project is bagged by them.
The corrupt Members of the Managing Committees also resort
to arm twisting, harassment and threatening method to the flat owners into
submission as per the developer’s orders. Scared by such hounding tactics, most
Members of the Society accept and offer their consent towards the redevelopment
without any protest and prefer to go along with whatever the Office Bearers and
the Members of the Managing Committee decides.
It is well known fact that the illegal gratifications and
lavish spending by a large cartel of unscrupulous developers entice the Members
of the Managing Committees of Cooperative Housing Societies and provoke them to
turn against their own Members of the Society in the matter of obtaining
consent and force implementation of redevelopment.
It is often observed that the Managing Committees do not
have the required knowledge of redevelopment compelling them to be at the mercy
of the Professionals who are equally incompetent in the integrated areas and
intricacies of Redevelopment of Housing Societies.
Please remember that going in for redevelopment without
knowing the precise procedures and processes involved is like walking on the
edge of a cliff blindfolded and any single wrong step could send the whole
Society tumbling downwards. Essential information is one concept where half
knowledge is infinitely more dangerous than ignorance.
If any step taken without following the necessary
guidelines, all the efforts would be rendered null and void. Clearly, the need
of the hour is that those standing on the threshold of redevelopment receive
advice from counsellors who have the experience and expertise to direct the
Society in achieving the desired goals.
On the front of redevelopment, in a fair and above-board
transaction, the developer should pass on some of that value to residents of
the building, either through money paid as a corpus, or additional space in the
flats, or both. Here’s where the Managing Committee can be lured into agreeing
to a raw deal for their neighbors of decades. Two-crore rupees passed on by
the developer is a very small amount for him, while for the Members of the Managing
Committee, it’s an amount they’ve never seen before.
There are, of course, guidelines laid down by the
Maharashtra government to ensure that all residents of a Housing Society get a
fair and market-driven deal. A Housing Society cannot be handed over to a
designated developer unless it is agreed to by at least 70% of the Members. The
process of selection of a developer has to be preceded by the appointment of a Project
Management Consultant (PMC), who is an architect and knows the exact value of
the property and how much residents should get as their share of the benefit of
redevelopment.
But as is the case with deviant India, this process is
almost always subverted by appointing a PMC who gives a doctored report to
favour a certain developers. Housing Societies with literate and aware
residents will make sure that there is transparency in the selection of the PMC.
This is to be done by asking some PMCs to send in their
profiles with track record of work done and the value they brought to residents
in Housing Societies that they have previously advised. This must be
crosschecked with references from residents of Societies who have availed of
their services and can vouch for the veracity of the PMC’s claims. The developers
short-listed are also asked for a similar profile and a list of projects
successfully delivered.
None of this exercise done in case the Managing Committee
wants to cream off some of the money for themselves, in which case they
typically end up with a selection of a developer who has little experience,
virtually no capital and is hungry to make a break. As we all know, the land is
very expensive in Mumbai and a Redevelopment Agreement grants a developer
access to that asset of his saleable are for free.
With regard to enforcing the Law & Order against the
fraud and cheat builders, the Indian Police has always remained in forefront to
protect the cold-blooded builders and milk them as often as needed. Even basic
functions like lodging a FIR against the deceptive and dishonest builders is
firstly not registered, victims are encouraged and even threatened for not to
file an official complaint. If a case somehow gets registered, the police
usually do not take any action. The con developers, corrupt politicians and
policemen go like hand in glove, often resulting in exploitation of the
gullible and naïve Buyers / Members of the Society.
It is not expected of a common man to analyze the hidden
risks in a redevelopment scenario. His knowledge is zero to know the judiciary
system and its intricacies. The developers on the other hand, have fleet of
highly paid advocates and experts to advise and protect them.
Last, but not the least, the successful execution of any
redevelopment project primarily depends on the management by the Members of the
Managing Committees with transparent efforts to protect the corporate interest
of the Society and 100% co-operation of each and every Member. This, in turn,
again depends on the capacity of the Members of the Managing Committees who are
entrusted with the management of entire process of the redevelopment with their
honesty and integrity.
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