Hindustan Times  26.05.2010

Residents want garden, builder more houses

The residents of Kores Nakshatra in Vartaknagar, Thane (West), have filed a civil suit against a builder and Thane Municipal Corporation for constructing a building on the site meant for a garden.

The builder is from the real estate division of Kores India Limited.

Kores Nakshatra has 15 buildings of seven storeys each and a garden, the construction of which was completed in 2005. There are 420 flats in these buildings housing 1,600 residents.

“The original plot plan, which is included in the sales agreement, shows 15 buildings and two gardens. But on May 16, the builder began constructing one more building on the site where another garden was to be constructed. We wrote several letters to the builder and the municipal corporation,” said Vitthal Patil (38), who along with another resident filed the suit on May 19. 

“The municipal corporation rejected the plan in November 2009. The builder then submitted a revised plan with minor changes in December, and that was accepted by the TMC in March.” 

Residents said Kores India Ltd had given two plots to TMC. The civic body developed the plots to build a library and community hall for free. In return, the TMC allowed the builder to construct the 16th building instead of the garden.

The residents said the complex needs a garden.

“I bought a resale flat at double the amount because I was promised that there will be a new garden soon. I have a four-year-old son and he would have liked it. This is like cheating. We were left with no choice but to approach the court,” said resident Sunil Patil.

The residents say one more building will create infrastructural problems.

“Parking will be a problem. The building will come up in front of two other buildings, thus blocking the view and ventilation,” said Patil.

Deputy general manager (liason and marketing), Kores India Ltd, refused to comment saying that the matter was sub judice.

TMC’s town planning coordinator Sunil Hazare said he will look into the matter.

The next hearing of the case is on May 31.

Indian Express     24.05.2010

HC notice to PMC over Baner foothill construction

Express News Service Tags : court, corporation Posted: Mon May 24 2010, 05:14 hrs

 Pune: The Bombay High Court has issued notices to the Pune Municipal Corporation, Municipal Commissioner Mahesh Zagade, the state government, Department of Town Planning and a builder questioning the construction at the foothills in Baner.

The notices follow a PIL by the Baner Citizens’ Forum. “Construction of a commercial project is on at survey no 1 and 6 in Baner. Extensive digging is being carried out, eating into the slope,” said forum president Lt Col (retd) Ashok Thombre.

The forum had sent an e-mail to apprise Zagade of the issue a couple of months ago. “After two more reminders and visits to PMC, we got a written reply that was ambiguous and misleading. It did not address the issue, after which we decided to get the facts ourselves. Later, we filed the PIL,” Thombre said

The HC has admitted the petition and asked all the five parties mentioned above to file replies by June 24. It also declared that the said construction would be subject to the result of the petition. “We received the HC notice last week. Since it is the court’s vacation, we shall file our reply by June 24,” said PMC deputy engineer (building permission department) Sudhir Pansare.

He said the PMC had permitted construction legally after completion of all formalities.