Patra Chawl flat buyers stage dharna outside Mhada for homes

Mumbai Braving sporadic showers and warnings that they may be arrested, a group of citizens staged a peaceful protest opposite the MHADA building in Bandra (East) on Wednesday morning

Mumbai Braving sporadic showers and warnings that they may be arrested, a group of citizens staged a peaceful protest opposite the MHADA building in Bandra (East) on Wednesday morning.

An eight-member delegation of flat buyers met Yogesh Mhase, Vice Chairman and Chief Officer, MHADA in the mornin (Pratik Chorge/HT PHOTO)

The 70-80 protesters comprised of homebuyers and their families in three stalled residential complexes at Goregaon’s Patra Chawl – Kalpataru Radiance, Ekta Tripolis and The Luxor (by Sangam Lifespaces). The buildings these homebuyers have booked flats in have already been constructed. “Our homes are ready, but MHADA is not allowing us to move in because of MHADA’s disagreement with the now insolvent builder it had given development rights for the entire plot to,” said a flat buyer who held a sign that urged elected officials to help. It said, “1700 tax-paying home buyers; 500 cr GST paid; 200 cr stamp duty paid; 8,500 vote bank – what more do you want?”

An eight-member delegation of flat buyers met Yogesh Mhase, Vice Chairman and Chief Officer, MHADA in the morning. While the PRO for MHADA was not reachable for comment, some buyers told HT that Mhase offered them his support and stated that MHADA would follow the government resolution (GR) – issued by the state housing department in July 2021 – completely, in letter and spirit. The GR stated that MHADA must work with the builders to arrive at a resolution.

On condition of anonymity, flat buyers told HT that, during the meeting with Mhase, their representatives were shocked to hear that MHADA has affixed a liability of a whopping ₹3,000 crore on the nine developers who have constructed buildings on the plot – which includes Ekta, Sangam and Kalpataru. “We don’t know how MHADA has arrived at this figure. We don’t know how or when the builders will pay this sum, or what MHADA will do if they contest the figure,” said one of the flat buyers’ delegates.

Senior citizen Kasturi Shetty said she has paid 90% of the ₹3 Cr for a 3 BHK in Kalpataru Radiance. Shetty’s husband, Narsimha, 72, was ill and hence unable to accompany her to the protest. They had both worked as insurance consultants in the US for years, “And all our hard-earned money is now locked in this property, while we pay rent to live in a cramped apartment in Goregaon,” Shetty said. The couple has been waiting for their home for some eight years now.

Blue-collar professional, Roopchand Parmar, 72, similarly, said he booked a 2 BHK at Ekta Tripolis 10 years ago, and paid 80 per cent already. “The interest on that amount could have made our lives more comfortable,” he said.

Priti Rathi, 47, who was present with her husband Deepak, with whom she runs a trade and distribution business, said they keep postponing their daughter’s wedding as they don’t have their own home and have to pay a monthly rent of ₹60,000.

Conversations on site indicated that the protest may just be the tip of the iceberg. Many, like 43-year-old Madhu Parasrampuria, who kept an eye on his eight-year-old son while he spoke to reporters, said they were mulling the idea of halting payments against their home loans. “For months, we’ve been getting assurances from officials that we will be allowed to move into our homes in a month, in a week, in two days…but no end appears to be in sight. Meanwhile, I’m paying rent as well as EMIs – it’s just not sustainable.”

Parasrampuria , who booked an apartment in Kalpataru Radiance in 2018, and other home buyers who huddled around him, said that the fact that banks had extended them loans against these apartments indicated that all the paperwork was in order. “How can MHADA, a government body whose purpose is to provide affordable housing, leave us middle-class families homeless?” he asked.