Heartbreak City

Angry buyers of stalled Sector-107 projects protest inaction of builders & Noida Authority; demand houses or money back with interest

Even as a trial court blasted Delhi Police for shoddy probe in Rs 500cr Unitech case involving a Sector-70 Gurgaon project, over 500 buyers of five different stalled residential projects in Noida’s Sector-107 demanded their houses or full money back with interest. While Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Gaurav Rao observed that this was yet another case where "the builder lobby has taken hundreds of innocent investors for a ride," the Noida buyers said they needed clarity on the issue. 

The projects came to a standstill following a Supreme Court order in 2013 quashing acquisition of a 225-hectare land in Salarpur village in Sector 107. The five projects have close to 5,000 flats, which were mostly sold in 2010-11. The buyers protested the “inaction of builders and the Noida Authority in solving the issue for the past two years.” The general secretary of the Sector 107 Home Buyers Association, Sanjeev Priyadarshi, demanded clarity on the issue from the Authority saying the buyers are clueless while they still pay EMIs every month. "Nobody thinks of the buyers' plight when such decisions are taken,” said Puneet Parashar, a homebuyer. “When the apex court passed the order in 2013, most projects were close to completion. The buyers had already paid anything between 75-90% of the flat costs. For the past one year the projects have seen no progress and the buildings are eventually getting damaged." The Noida Authority had acquired the 225-hectare land in 2008-2009 under the urgency clause of the erstwhile Land Acquisition Act, which was challenged by the farmers first in the Allahabad High Court and later in Supreme Court. 

The apex court in its August 5, 2013 order quashed the land acquisition besides cancelling the entire notification of Sallarpur village. But the construction continued in full swing despite the order. The builders then filed a review petition against the order in the Supreme Court, where a the bench of Justice Teerth Singh Thakur and Justice V. Gopala Gowda heard the case on August 23, 2015, and sent it back to the Allahabad High Court for review. Gopal Subramaniam, representing the builders, told the Hon’ble Supreme Court instead of 182 acres of land, which is what Rajendra Estate Pvt Ltd has appealed for, the entire stretch of 547 acres was cancelled by annulment of the notification, which was issues under section 4 and 6. 

Also that at the time of the judgment passed on August 5, 2013, the builders as well as the buyers were never represented. To this, Justice Thakur said that since the matter of farmer agitation was always in the news, it was surprising that the builders never tried to find out if there was something wrong with their land. However, Mr Subramaniam argued that there was no way builders could have known the status of litigation. Further Mr Subramaniam argued that the Supreme Court bench has given a faourable judgment for the Authority and builders in the order passed in May 2015. Since Salarpur village was already a part of this case, it was argued that the judgment should be applied and review should be accepted. Justice Thakur repeatedly asked "What is the problem then? Which of the judgment was creating a problem?” It was further informed to him that post the August 2013 judgment, many other farmers who had already taken the compensation, have gone to Allahabad High Court and the cases are under consideration. Finally Justice Thakur took a view that since the matter is already being pursued by Allahabad High Court, it is better that the Authority and builders pursued the matter in High Court. He then adjourned the review petition filed in Supreme Court and directed the Allahabad High Court that they should hear the case expeditiously within the next two months and decide on the matter. 

After Metro, time for the tram

After starting work on all three phases of Greater Noida Metro simultaneously, Noida Authority shifts focus to trams in the city 

With the Noida Metro construction work going on in full swing, it’s time for the Noida Authority to focus on the next best thing in sight: trams. Chief Secretary Alok Ranjan has already granted in-principle approval to the project, which is expected to provide last-mile connectivity across the city. Now Chairperson Rama Raman, who’s also the boss of the Noida Metro Rail Corporation (NMRC), wants to push the ‘Spanish’ traffic model  in the city. Raman was part of a delegation that had gone to Barcelona had gone to study the Metro transit system there. The soft-spoken bureaucrat was in total awe of the system in the Spanish capital and wants to replicate the same here. "Public transport such as the Metro and tram are the quickest, simplest and most convenient way of getting around in Barcelona," Raman said. "It is state-of-the-art and completely automated. Not only are the trains driverless, but also a single person controls the entire Metro system. The network is, therefore, a leading example in terms of comfort and speed, while possessing the longest, widest and most user-friendly stations." Raman said that in addition to the Metro, they also studied other options, which were available in the city to facilitate urban travel. "Buses powered by natural gas, and also the use of information technology have led to the ever-increasing use of public transport," he said. Earlier, NMRC decided to hand over consultancy of the tram project to Delhi Metro Rail Corporation. According to NMRC officials, a formal letter of appointment for the consultant will be issued soon and DMRC will work on the feasibility of the project and submit a report within two-three months. "The feasibility will be worked out on several routes which will be selected in order of priority and percentage of ridership,” said an NMRC official. “The routes will complement the existing Metro routes," he said. Mr Raman had also given a presentation and amongst the three proposed routes, one route was shortlisted - Sector 132 to Mahamaya Flyover parallel to Greater Noida-Noida Expressway. This should fuel the realty demand on Expressway further. The tram service will also link Metro stations present in the two regions. The proposed route is likely to cover an area of 10.5 km and will cover all residential colonies that fall under this stretch. While the project is likely to cost over Rs 20 crore per km, the tentative budget will be released only after the DPR report is presented.

Hold your shopping! IKEA coming to Noida…

We don’t know yet if the iconic furniture retailer IKEA would open its first Indian store at Noida, Greater Noida to be precise. But the good news is that the Swedish home furnishings company has inked a deal with the UP Government to open three stores in the state – Noida, Lucknow and Agra. The MoU was signed between CEO of IKEA India Juvencio Maeztu and Principal Secretary, Infrastructure and Industrial Development, Mahesh Kumar Gupta, in the presence of Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav. The IKEA delegation informed the CM that an investment of Rs 500 crore was estimated in every store. The IKEA Group is the first major single brand retailer to be given FDI approval to set up retail operations in India. IKEA Group has been present in India for 28 years working with 48 suppliers, engaging 45,000+ direct co-workers and approximately 400,000 coworkers in its extended supply chain sourcing products for IKEA stores worldwide. It’s a priority for IKEA to find the right locations at the right price with Metro connection and easy access to public transport. A typical IKEA store size is about 350,000 sqft, built on a plot size of 8-11 acres (about 4 football fields) and offers approximately 9,000 products. Each store employs 400 – 700 coworkers directly and 2,000 indirectly. India is the only country to have IKEA retail, sourcing, IKEA foundation and Next Generation as its four strong pillars. If you’re wondering what Next Generation is all about, it is: IKEA collaborates with artisans in small-scale producer groups and through these partnerships, it creates limited edition, hand-made collections that have been created with a social mission yet still affordable. Currently two initiatives of Next Generation are ongoing in India, with Rangsutra, Swaayam Kala and Industree Producer Transform. The limited edition collections of handmade products are sold in selected stores in Austria, Switzerland and Sweden.

Founded by Ingvar Kamprad in 1943 (formed from his initials – IK - plus the first letters of Elmtaryd (E) and Agunnaryd (A), the farm and village where he grew up), IKEA originally sold sells pens, wallets, picture frames, table runners, watches, jewellery and nylon stockings. Furniture was introduced into the IKEA range in 1948 and the rest is history!