Buyers in affordable housing project want work expedited

As many as 50 buyers of Mahira Homes in Sector 103 held a demonstration near the Department of Town and Country Planning (DTCP) office in Sector 14 on Wednesday, alleging slow progress of work despite paying 60% of the project cost.

Officials said the homebuyers were at the DTCP office to meet the developer and senior town planner Sanjiv Mann.The housing project, which falls in the affordable housing category, is scheduled to be completed and delivered in 2024.

Manjit Pandey, a homebuyer, said that work on the ground is only at 10%, though they have paid 62% of the cost to the developer. “The pace of the project work is slow, although a majority of the buyers have already paid around ₹15 lakh each. They have also asked for the next payment. We want the DTCP to check the extent of construction work. The bank from where I took a loan is reluctant to release the next tranche of amount, given the slow pace of project work,” Pandey said.

On Sunday, 70 to 80 homebuyers gathered at the project site to protest against the slow pace of work. According to the homebuyers, they were asked to complete 75% of the payment, while there was no concurrent work at the project site. They also said that a few months ago, the DTCP had said that the payment of affordable projects be made as per the construction work being done, and this should be implemented at the earliest.

The developer of Mahira Homes, however, said that as per the rules, they have been given four years to develop the project. “We assure the buyers that the project will be completed by 2024, without any delay. Buyers, who don’t want to invest in this project anymore, can tell us, and we will return their money. Many homebuyers didn’t make payments in the past, and the project is in arrear of around ₹14 crore,” said Alakh Niranjan, a senior official of Mahira Developers.

“We had to reschedule the construction work due to the Covid-imposed lockdown, but we will meet the project timelines,” he said.

Senior town planner Sanjiv Mann asked the district town planner (DTP) to visit the site and check the project status. “We have asked the developer to speed up the pace of construction. The issue of buyers defaulting on payment was also discussed. We will ensure that the project is delivered on time,” Mann said.