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14 years later, Maha Police Megacity Project as good as dead
The project was initiated in 2009 when the then city police commissioner circulated a notice urging policemen from all over Maharashtra to invest in it and get homes in return
PUNE: Fourteen years after nearly 7,000 working and retired police officials from all over the state invested their life’s earnings in the ‘Maharashtra Police Megacity Project’ at Lohegaon – a dream residential project which promised these policemen spacious residences with top-class amenities – the project is yet to see the light of day.
So much so that the aggrieved policemen – under the aegis of the Maharashtra Police Megacity Project Bachav Samiti – are now threatening legal action if they do not get their prized homes in which they have invested or a refund in case the project has been shelved.
According to the Samiti, approximately Rs525 crores was invested in the project which is now stuck due to the inordinate delay. Out of the Rs525 crores, Rs350 crores was given to a private construction company for completion of the first phase of the project. Alongside, an agreement was inked with the builder stipulating that the builder would pay the investors rent until such time they got rightful possession of their homes. Fourteen years later, the project has not even started leading the investors to believe that their investment is dead.
Madan Dadasaheb Patil, former Kolhapur superintendent and Samiti member, said, “We invested in this project hoping for a good future for our family but now, we are left with zero outcome. The investments of so many families are stuck.”
“Our demand is that we either get the flats that were promised to us or the refund if the project has been shelved. It has been too long a wait for the result of our investment, and some of the investors will not even be able to see the project completed within their lifetime. We urge the government to step in and take over the project,” Patil said.
According to the Samiti, the project was initiated in 2009 when the then city police commissioner circulated a notice urging policemen from all over Maharashtra to invest in it and get homes in return. After getting confirmation from all those who were investing in the project, a 12-member, self-declared committee was appointed and a private builder was brought on board to enter into a contract to develop the project. Patil said that the contract was given to the private builder without issuing an official tender.
As per a press release issued by the aggrieved policemen, a memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed between the committee which addresses itself as the ‘Society’ and the builder in 2010 and an official agreement of sale was signed between the parties in 2017.
Vikas Madurang Kadam, a retired policeman, said, “According to the agreement, the builder was supposed to deliver the entire project by 2021 however he did not live up to his promise. Before Covid-19 struck in 2020, barely 10% of the work had been completed. After Covid however, the work ground to a halt and there has been no development ever since.”
Members of the Samiti have expressed their displeasure over the functioning of the ‘Society’ which in 2023 approved funds to the same builder whom it declared a wilful defaulter in 2022. The Samiti members are now threatening to take the legal route if their demands are not met.
