Operation flood drives Juhu couple away

Developer accused of drilling holes through floor of flat above, dislodging tiles, and leaving tap on to harass senior citizens

Developer accused of drilling holes through floor of flat above, dislodging tiles, and leaving tap on to harass senior citizens

Nandalal (71) and Shobha Peswani (64) alleged that they had to move from their ground-floor flat in Sukhmani co-op Housing Society in Juhu on Wednesday night to their son's house in Bandra after the builder redeveloping their society allegedly got their house flooded.

Nandalal said Baboo Gupta of Moonland Developers drilled holes into the floor of the flat above theirs, dislodged some floor tiles, and deliberately left the tap open, so the water would seep into their flat.

"I refused Gupta's offer to vacate my flat for which they are offering me a smaller flat on an upper storey.

I reasoned with the builder that my wife has weak knees. He not only refused to listen, he began harassing us," Nandalal said.

Angry: Nandalal and Shobha Peswani outside their ground floor flat in Juhu.

Added Shobha, "The builder built a pillar where I had parked my car in such a way that the car has not moved for the last five years."

In 2003, Gupta approached residents of the 40-year-old building with a redevelopment proposal that was accepted by all but five of the 40 flat-owners, including the Peswanis.





Not the villain

Gupta said he was unfairly being painted as the villain of the piece. "I have offered them a house on the ground floor.

However, to make that possible, they have to vacate it first for the construction to begin. I am not torturing them. I am the one who is suffering," said Gupta.