Panvel residents protest against developer, vow to file criminal case

Around 100 residents from Indiabulls Greens complex near Panvel carried out a protest against the developer demanding their basic rights Residents said they would file a criminal case against the developer for cheating if they didnt get a permanent water supply connection and other basic amenitiesThe protest was carried out on Sunday at the Indiabulls Greens premises located near Kon village Panvel Raigad district Residents held placards reading slogans like lsquoIndiabulls management ab hoshiyaar nahi sahege attyacharrsquo and lsquoLekar rahege lekar rahege Indiabulls se apna haq lekar rahegersquo The protest that started at 1030 am concluded at 2 pmIndiabulls Greens has 18 buildings each 40 storeyed with around 3200 flats in total ldquoThe builder started giving possession of the flats in 2017 As per the agreement given to us we had paid Rs 2 lakh for basic amenities which was collected from each of the 3200 flats These amenities include permanent water supply and other basic facilities like clubhouse and indoor gamesrdquo said Rahul Sonawane a resident of the complex who was part of the protest He added that if the developer doesnt address their demands in one week the residents will file a criminal case for cheating themIndiabulls Gardens has 18 buildings each 40 storeyedManoranjan Kar a resident of the complex since 2017 said ldquoA few years ago we had filed a case against the developer with the National Consumer Redressal Forum for delay in possession and not providing basic amenities We won the case but the developer filed a case in the Delhi High Court After a few months later the Delhi court dismissed our case so we approached the Supreme CourtrdquoAccording to Dinesh Sonawane a resident of four years the water connection provided by the developer is a temporary one which the residents found out after filing an RTI query ldquoOur demand is for a permanent water connection Indiabulls should pay the deposit for this Also in the brochure the developer promised a clubhouse school hospital and shopping mall but none of these have come up The gym small swimming pool indoor games facility and tennis court were open till January 2023 but have been closed for the past year over some reasonrdquo Dinesh saidTo demand their basic rights the residents came together under the Indiabulls Sangharsh Samiti banner and carried out their first protest on May 14 2023 The second protest took place on October 8 and the third on January 14 2024 ldquoI have filed a petition in court regarding the issue However we are receiving no response from the developer Even after protesting for hours the builder didnrsquot turn up to see what was going on We will continue our protest till we get basic amenitiesrdquo said advocate Anil Jadhav a resident for four yearsTulsidas Chandane a deputy engineer with the BMC and resident of the complex said ldquoThere was low pressure for water and as the crowd increased there was a shortage When we complained instead of solving the issue Indiabulls started providing water tankers There has been a water problem for three years At present there is less than 50 per cent occupancy But once people increase there will surely be an acute shortage of water Also the temporary water supply we are getting is for the Mhada building near us We donrsquot even have a proper connectionrdquo According to Jadhav the developer even charges for water tankers provided ldquoWe also checked a sample of the water supplied to us through tankers and found it to be contaminated Those taking possession in Phase II of the project should be careful or they too will be cheatedrdquo he saidChandane added that the water bill the developer currently has to pay is around Rs 11 crore ldquoThe capital amount of around R6 crore for the connection which was not paid by Indiabulls has increased to a valuation of R9 crore Also this year the bill is R2 crore which adds up to a total of Rs 11 crorerdquo midday tried getting in touch with Santosh Gunjal who looks after the administration work for Indiabulls but he didnrsquot respond and messages This reporter also visited the Indiabulls office in the premises where Irfan Tole who looks after the administration work was contacted However he declined to comment3200No of flats in complex