15 years on, their dream homes still a pipe dream

Not just pollution bad roads and traffic snarls but incomplete housing projects too are driving families away from the city One such group of 138 residents denied houses booked in the Amethyst Tower of World Homes project in Mulund have joined hands to take on the developer Nirmal Lifestyle LimitedV Chandrashekhar Aiyer 66 a retired management consultant who spent his life working in Mumbai had dreamt of owning his dream house in Mulund West where he wanted to spend his retired life He invested in the underconstruction project but 15 years since his dream house exists only on a piece of paperWith no sign of the project being completed and the interest on the bank loan hounding him Aiyer was forced to shift to his ancestral house in Bengaluru He continues to shuttle between the two metropolisesI made a booking with Nirmal Lifestyle Limited in 2005 and was allotted flat no 1410 measuring 1070 sqft in the 30storey Amethyst Tower one of the three in the World Homes project on LBS road I was to get the possession in 2008 Aiyer told middayAnother retired buyer V L Ganesh 61 booked a 2BHK flat measuring 1080 sqft for Rs 35 lakh Back then I was 45 with a wellpaying job The building project has been completely delayed for the past 14 years Ganesh said We homebuyers have been interacting with the builder for the past 10 years They give promises but no results We have paid around 87 per cent of the agreed cost said GaneshPlans scuttledI belong to the middle class I had planned ahead for this I am still paying interest on the bank loan The developer took peoples money and promised worldclass amenities But all they did was rout it to other projects All their projects are in limbo said AiyerHomebuyers who booked flats in the Amethyst towerAiyer claimed that Nirmal Lifestyle has a history of not completing projects and is deliberately delaying the workAccording to Ganesh the building is yet to get three slabs lifts lift room and water tank There are three towers on a common podium The other two towers were launched eight years after ours but the progress in those two has been relatively good though possession is not given I booked the flat as a provision for my children but all my plans have been shattered by Nirmal Lifestyle Ganesh saidFlatbuyers recently formed the Amethyst CooperativeHousingSociety Ltd proposed with the T Ward Deputy Registrars office They society has to complete all formalities in two months to get registered officially The developer initially agreed to give required information and signed certain documents but at the last moment he backed out claimed AiyerWe also requested Nirmal Lifestyle to furnish details of dues owed to BMC and other authorities which they have not shared so far despite having assured us of it before the MahaRERA chairman Gautam Chatterjee during a hearing on November 5 They were to submit the details within 20 days Efforts to get information under RTI also did not yield results said AiyerDouble whammyHomebuyers who took housing loans have to pay EMIs and house rents due to the delay This is a double whammy for such families Such builders should be brought to book said GaneshAs the developer is citing lack of funds for the delay homebuyers will approach the Maharashtra Real Estate Regulatory Authority MahaRERA to take action under Section 73 ensuring completion of project instead of revoking registration of the Real Estate Regulation and Development Act We will pay the balance cost of the flats and seek completion of construction supervised by MahaRERA We hope the authorities come down heavily on these builders Ganesh saidV C Aiyer and V L GaneshRajesh Gopinath who was working in Dubai wanted to move to India and invested in the project He stayed in Navi Mumbai on rent as this project languished A few months ago he moved to Delhi for work Another homebuyer Raji who is settled in Singapore wanted to move to India However all she and her family have ended up doing is shuttling between here and SingaporeEfforts made to contact Advocate Tushar Kadam representing Nirmal Lifestyle Ltd and the companys Director Rajeev Jain did not yield any resultsLawyer speakAdvocate Godfrey Pimenta who is representing over 138 flatbuyers from Amethyst tower said It is unfortunate that the builder even after giving assurances before the MahaRERA chairman gave only half the documents the flatbuyers needed We will move another application this week before the MahaRERA to expedite the hearing and supervise the projects completion through a Resolution PanelCatch up on all the latest Mumbai news crime news current affairs and also a complete guide on Mumbai from food to things to do and events across the city here Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updates