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It’s Sunday, are we going out for lunch?” is a normal question in most families, but not in the Greater Noida apartment of the Aggarwals and hundreds of others like them across NCR.
Not that the Aggarwals don’t want to take a weekend off. But ‘P’ for ‘Party’ is replaced by ‘P’ for ‘Protest’.
On both sides of the NCR – in Gurugram and in Noida – the street scene outside many societies, especially the newer ones, is similar over the weekend. With placards and banners in hand, residents reserve these holidays to demand what they paid for. The problems are manifold – from undelivered flats to incomplete amenities, power connections, registry, common area maintenance and undisclosed changes in layout plans.
So why protest only on weekends? Most home buyers are working, which makes them unavailable on other days of the week. Demonstrations are lined up in WhatsApp groups and held on Saturdays or Sundays, when the largest number of residents can participate.
But keeping weekend protests alive for months remains a challenge. In many cases, residents were found to have given up the fight, fed up with the workload or lack of progress.
One such protest led to an untimely death Aznara Le Garden Society In Noida Extension. Residents there sat on an ‘indefinite strike’ for six months straight from March this year. They have been demanding completion of five towers and construction of a club house among other facilities. During the festive season, residents stop gathering for weekend protests.
“The builder had given us a deadline to complete the clubhouse, but the work was stopped after one of the developer’s companies went bankrupt a few months ago,” said Mukesh Gupta, a resident. Gupta, however, is optimistic that protests will resume soon.
In Ajnara Homs, just a kilometer away, residents are struggling to continue the protest.
“We have been fooled by the builder. Nothing has been done in the basement, the playground is also incomplete. The builder promised to resolve the issues in July this year. Then the residents withdrew their protest,” said Dinkar Pandey, a resident. “But soon after, the parent company of the developer went bankrupt and the work stopped. The way things are going, it looks like we’ll have to start the protest again soon.”
In many projects, residents are living even though the buildings have not been issued occupancy certificates due to various issues. This often works against protesters when they meet with government officials.
“We are often asked why we agreed to occupy flats without issuing certificates,” said Sachin Gupta, a resident of Elegant Ville Society in Noida Extension. “We have done everything possible to complete civic work in our project. We have also registered an FIR against the builder for fraud and criminal conspiracy. Our society does not have proper electricity connection, STP and other basic facilities,” he added.
The change in layout has caused concern in NCR. While ordering the demolition of the twin towers in Noida, the Supreme Court had come down hard on the “corruption” of the Noida authorities, which allowed the towers to come up illegally.
In Gurugram, the situation is hardly different. Here too, weekend protests have become a routine for several highrise residents who are demanding what is due to them.
“We are aggrieved home buyers. We protest to draw the attention of authorities like H-RERA and Deputy Commissioner. But mostly there is hardly any progress,” said Bipin Yadav, a resident of Sector 65, Emerald Hills. Have been part of several protests. “The authorities should consider the concerns of the residents. Otherwise where will they go,” he asked.
After participating in 10 protests in the last six months, Mahira Samaj’s Manoj Kumar claimed that protests often lose steam due to lack of coordination between the authorities concerned.
Asked about the alleged lack of intervention, Ritu Maheshwari, who heads the Noida and Greater Noida Authority, said they hold regular meetings with home buyers to resolve their issues. But when the cases get bogged down in legal complications, the authorities cannot intervene much.
Gurgaon District Town Planner (Enforcement) Amit Madholia gave a similar answer. “The department holds regular meetings and tries to solve the problems of buyers as much as possible. Both parties – buyers and manufacturers – call here and resolve their grievances. But we have jurisdiction,” he added.
UP-RERA chief Rajeev Kumar said, “Two members of UP-RERA have been posted at the regional office in Greater Noida. This will cover eight districts of the state.”
Not that the Aggarwals don’t want to take a weekend off. But ‘P’ for ‘Party’ is replaced by ‘P’ for ‘Protest’.
On both sides of the NCR – in Gurugram and in Noida – the street scene outside many societies, especially the newer ones, is similar over the weekend. With placards and banners in hand, residents reserve these holidays to demand what they paid for. The problems are manifold – from undelivered flats to incomplete amenities, power connections, registry, common area maintenance and undisclosed changes in layout plans.
So why protest only on weekends? Most home buyers are working, which makes them unavailable on other days of the week. Demonstrations are lined up in WhatsApp groups and held on Saturdays or Sundays, when the largest number of residents can participate.
But keeping weekend protests alive for months remains a challenge. In many cases, residents were found to have given up the fight, fed up with the workload or lack of progress.
One such protest led to an untimely death Aznara Le Garden Society In Noida Extension. Residents there sat on an ‘indefinite strike’ for six months straight from March this year. They have been demanding completion of five towers and construction of a club house among other facilities. During the festive season, residents stop gathering for weekend protests.
“The builder had given us a deadline to complete the clubhouse, but the work was stopped after one of the developer’s companies went bankrupt a few months ago,” said Mukesh Gupta, a resident. Gupta, however, is optimistic that protests will resume soon.
In Ajnara Homs, just a kilometer away, residents are struggling to continue the protest.
“We have been fooled by the builder. Nothing has been done in the basement, the playground is also incomplete. The builder promised to resolve the issues in July this year. Then the residents withdrew their protest,” said Dinkar Pandey, a resident. “But soon after, the parent company of the developer went bankrupt and the work stopped. The way things are going, it looks like we’ll have to start the protest again soon.”
In many projects, residents are living even though the buildings have not been issued occupancy certificates due to various issues. This often works against protesters when they meet with government officials.
“We are often asked why we agreed to occupy flats without issuing certificates,” said Sachin Gupta, a resident of Elegant Ville Society in Noida Extension. “We have done everything possible to complete civic work in our project. We have also registered an FIR against the builder for fraud and criminal conspiracy. Our society does not have proper electricity connection, STP and other basic facilities,” he added.
The change in layout has caused concern in NCR. While ordering the demolition of the twin towers in Noida, the Supreme Court had come down hard on the “corruption” of the Noida authorities, which allowed the towers to come up illegally.
In Gurugram, the situation is hardly different. Here too, weekend protests have become a routine for several highrise residents who are demanding what is due to them.
“We are aggrieved home buyers. We protest to draw the attention of authorities like H-RERA and Deputy Commissioner. But mostly there is hardly any progress,” said Bipin Yadav, a resident of Sector 65, Emerald Hills. Have been part of several protests. “The authorities should consider the concerns of the residents. Otherwise where will they go,” he asked.
After participating in 10 protests in the last six months, Mahira Samaj’s Manoj Kumar claimed that protests often lose steam due to lack of coordination between the authorities concerned.
Asked about the alleged lack of intervention, Ritu Maheshwari, who heads the Noida and Greater Noida Authority, said they hold regular meetings with home buyers to resolve their issues. But when the cases get bogged down in legal complications, the authorities cannot intervene much.
Gurgaon District Town Planner (Enforcement) Amit Madholia gave a similar answer. “The department holds regular meetings and tries to solve the problems of buyers as much as possible. Both parties – buyers and manufacturers – call here and resolve their grievances. But we have jurisdiction,” he added.
UP-RERA chief Rajeev Kumar said, “Two members of UP-RERA have been posted at the regional office in Greater Noida. This will cover eight districts of the state.”
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