Purvang soc residents, Mulund's self-redvpt pioneers, share secrets to success

On March 9 residents of Mulundrsquos Purvarang Society raised the Gudi or brought in their respective new year in the new homes they built themselves without a bank loan Their joy on this momentous occasion doubled just like the carpet area of their new apartments From 390sqft 1BHK apartments they now live in 3BHKs spread over 1017 sqft and even benefited from the sale of the additional apartments as their sevenstorey high building rose to 23 floorsThis is the stuff of dreams in the maximum city and Purvarang is the first housing society in Maharashtra to achieve this fairy tale ending Currently 800 housing societies in the state have signed selfredevelopment agreements to garner benefits such as 10 per cent extra floor space and a reduction in GST promised by the governmentPurvarang Society in Mulund Mumbai PicsAnurag AhireIn 2014 the 56flatstrong society in Mulund East was assessed to be structurally unsound by MHADA signalling redevelopment The 11member Management Committee could go the usual way of choosing the right builder for the makeover which would mean haggling over additional FSI usually 275 to 3 per cent of the original carpet area requests for commissions in black rents or accommodation over the construction period a wait of as much as 14 years sometimes inevitable delays and secondary citizen treatment over amenities and quality of constructionA recce of redeveloped projects in their locality revealed that many projects failed midway due to disagreements with builders over financial demands or their disagreements with residents Moreover traditional redevelopment projects can take more than a decade which was a considerable lifespan of the Purvarang residentsmdashmany of them were over 50 years of ageInstead they took the floor plan into their own hands and appointed a threemember allmen core committee to undertake every detail of the redevelopment That 100 per cent of the residents were on board lubricated the process so much that the new building was up in only four yearsmdashdespite the COVID19 enforced lockdown and a fourmonth cessation in construction in 2020 to not disrupt the migration of flamingos as stipulated by Thane Creek Flamingo Sanctuary and state governmentldquoThe redevelopment committee was an open forum for all residentsrdquo says Milind Mahadik Secretary of the societyrsquos management committee ldquoWe encouraged everyone including women and children to participate in the decisionmaking processrdquo In the absence of formal representation the women were recognized as soft power in coercing men to sign on to the selfredevelopment planFrom left to right A photo of the redevelopment committee members including Rakesh Gaikwad Advocate Datta Kumthekar Balkrishna Dhumne Prabhakar Kuado Anil Harkar Milind Mahadik and Manohar BugadeldquoWe hired an expert team comprising a designing architect structural construction consultants a legal advisor and an accountantrdquo says Mahadik Instead of going to a bank to finance this operation residents contributed Rs 15000 to Rs 20000 towards it per month as maintenance rent as well as taking responsibility for their interim accommodation They were given the option of allotting this maintenance rent towards buying more apartments in new Purvarang or carving it out of the profits gained by the sale of the excess flatsBy including solar panels huge windows for increased ventilation a special glass material that doesnrsquot block light but heat faucets for minimising the water and charging ports for electric vehicles in their blueprint they were easily certified as a Green Building by the India Green Building Council which made them eligible for a 15 to 20 per cent discount on maintenance rent And to cut overheads of construction materials usually reaped by the contractor an engineer appointed by the construction consultant managed the purchasing of materials directly from manufacturers such as Ultra Tech cement JSW steel and so onldquoCost of raw materials shot up after COVIDrdquo says Rakesh Gaikwad a core member of the redevelopment committee ldquoSteel was R36 per kg before the pandemic and R86 per kg afterwards Itrsquos an indispensable construction material and we couldnrsquot compromise on quality or delay construction till prices levelled This was one of the reasons we decided to sponsor all raw materialsrdquoThe lockdown enforced by COVID19 halted the project for 10 months and then the fourmonth stall in 2020 to allow flamingos to migrate to Thane Creek And yet new Purvarang collectively took only three years to risemdashfrom 2019 to 2024Hiring key players directly shaved more lakhs off the budget ldquoA redevelopment project requires four key agentsrdquo informs Gaikwad ldquoan architect a signing authority for required permissions clearances and NOCs from authorities Reinforced Cement Concrete consultants and an Approved Building Products consultant So instead of hiring a single construction company for these we hired them separatelyrdquoThis allowed elasticity for bespoke infrastructural benefits such as a single room solely for internet television and mobile network providers and a shutter lift that stopped at the nearest floor instead of midway during emergencies committee member and electrical consultant Digambar Naik tells us Marketing and sale of the excess 62 apartments was also managed by the residents omitting the intermediary estate agent and their cut ldquoInstead of spending on an agencyrdquo says Gaikwad who led the projectrsquos lsquosales and marketingrsquo team ldquoWe distributed flyers near the railway station spoke about it in our social circles and advertised in newspapers and on YouTuberdquo As of this report going to print only five apartments are leftDIY guide to redevelopmentFirst confirmation and clearance are required from all residents Then comes MHADArsquos feasibility report that takes into account whom the land belongs to and approvals from Coastal Regulation Zones Environmental Clearance and NOCs from Traffic Fire and Defence departments After that the appointed redevelopment committee takes over the construction details3BHKsFlat upgrade from the earlier 1BHKs of 2x traditional FSI