Will justice be served to the Sector?
National Green Tribunal (NGT) recently caught the attention of the real estate sector and its stakeholders when it announced the sensitive zone for the construction of high rise projects to be increased from 100 mt to 10 Km. The authority said that no high rise project can be built within 10 km radius of the Okhla bird sanctuary. The most highlighting and disturbing factor for the affected developers and customers is that the body was formed back in October, 2010 and most projects were already underway. The developers were given all the due clearances and approvals for construction as well, along with environmental clearance for some.
Kushagr Ansal, director, Ansal Housing says, “It is very important that environment must be protected; but there have to be certain parameters that are fixed from the beginning and must not hamper the day to day living of anyone. When the authority was formed it was already too late, as most of the projects had started with the construction. By the time the decision came out, many projects were standing ready for possession.”
Another point to be noted here is that most projects today are constructed and are only waiting for the environmental clearance. But there are several projects that are been given the green go ahead by the authorities. But now, even those who got the permission have been said no to offer possession. There are almost 30,000 units that are awaiting possession and in a few more months, 20,000 more units will be ready.
Prominent sectors of Noida real estate market such as 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 121, 122 and 137 are being affected. In Delhi, one of the most settled districts such as Jamia, Lajpat Nagar, Kalkaji, Nehru Place, etc. are falling under the radar of the radius. Sushant Muttreja, CMD, Cosmic Group says, “This looks very impractical. It is not possible to simply cancel someone’s years of hard work and efforts. When all the due permissions and approvals were being taken, how the system call it as nil? Thousands of customers had booked there flats many years back and today the prices might have even doubled; and if these projects are cancelled, will NGT pay them back? Many customers who are living on rent and paying monthly instalments of their booked unit, where will they go and how much further will they pay?”
As it is said that every cloud has a silver lining; after such heated reaction from the public and the developers, the authorities are looking at their decision again and might be forced to even reduce the sensitive zone radius. Rupesh Gupta, director, JM Housing says, “This situation is tough for customers and developers to digest. The government and the concerned authorities must look in to the matter again. Many sources are saying that the sensitive zone will be reduced to the extent that no project or constructed building will be suffered. This step if taken will bring lots of smiles back again. But, this decision needs to come soon now as many are waiting to get the keys of their homes.”
Looking at the customers and developers reaction, the authorities are pushed to rethink and redecide as someone’s hard earned money and effort is being put on the line. But the biggest question is how much more time to decide and will it serve the proper justice or not?
Hrishi Kumar
Hrishi is a young management graduate with experience in the field of branding and marketing.Currently, he is the manager at Integrated Centre for Consultancy Pvt. Ltd (ICCPL)
The views expressed in this article are the author´s own.
