Thane: Thousands of Kalyan, Dombivli home-buyers also face uncertainty

The recently unearthed VasaiVirar housing scam is reminiscent of a fraud where 65 projects in an area under the jurisdiction of the KalyanDombivli Municipal Corporation were found to be illegal The fate of those who have occupied flats in these buildings also hangs in the balanceAfter the scam was exposed a special investigation team was formed and an FIR was registered by the KalyanDombivli Municipal Corporation KDMC against 38 developers in October 2022 Five or six accused have been arrested so far though not much else has happened The buildingsrsquo residents are having sleepless nights as the civic body issued eviction notices in November last year The corporation claims action will be taken against the buildings in question soonSheetal Wagh left and other residents of Shiv Sai Residency PicsRajesh GuptaThe whistleblowerArchitect Sandeep Patil a Kalyan resident was responsible for shedding light on the illegal projects whose developers had produced bogus commencement certificates to get them registered with MahaRERAldquoAfter I found the first case in Adivali Dhokli village in 2020 I filed a public interest litigation in Bombay High Court in 2021 Itrsquos still pending with the high court But eventually as many as 65 projects were registered with MahaRERA in the same fashion In October 2022 the FIR was filed in the matter and the Enforcement Directorate ED is probing the case The corporation didnrsquot have the guts to demolish the buildings but only broke slabs and went awayrdquo the whistleblower saidSheetal Wagh left and other residents of Shiv Sai Residency PicsRajesh GuptaMany of the 65 projects stand on gaothan areas in Kalyan and Dombivli and were constructed either on private trust land or government land Though many of the buildings are lying vacant some have occupants who donrsquot know what lies in store for themAuthorities suspect more than 100 projects in the corporationrsquos jurisdiction will be found to be illegal if a thorough investigation is doneShiv Sai Residency at Sonarpada in Shankar Nagar Dombivli EastResidents distraughtShiv Sai Residency a fourstorey building at Sonarpada in Shankar Nagar Dombivli East looks like any other building in the neighbourhood but its occupants have been uneasy nights since November as KDMC had sent them a notice to vacate the building within 30 daysSheetal and Rakesh Wagh moved into the Shiv Sai Residency in November 2018 ldquoWe bought this flat for Rs 25 lakh and had taken a loan with a hefty 12 per cent rate of interest Initially we thought the shortcomings in the construction were minor but when we came to know about the KDMC action we were stunned We couldnrsquot believe that we had paid hardearned money for a home that is illegalrdquo Sheetal saidAshok Mhatre retired Army manDeepti Jadhav another resident who also bought her flat for the same amount said ldquoThe builder knew everything was illegal but purposely kept us in the dark Though we have paid money we got an eviction notice Every day for us like a bonus as we donrsquot what will happen to the building The building has been poorly constructed besides being illegal Even if the KDMC regularises it itrsquos not habitable Why are civic officials sending us notices despite knowing they have failed in their duty What about banks who sanctioned the loansrdquoGeeta Pandey another resident who has a child said ldquoMy husband is working in Haryana When we bought this flat we thought it was a dream home for us but now the sword of eviction hangs over our heads They KDMC officials will come and force us to vacate the building I have been having sleepless nights thinking about thisrdquoArchitect and whistleblower Sandeep Patil on the terrace of his office building at Khadakpada Kalyan West on August 11 PicSatej ShindeRetired Army man fleecedAshok Mhatre 59 a retired Army man had two adjacent plots near his residence at Deslepada in Dombivli East Around 2014 he struck a deal with builders to develop the property He was to get a percentage on the sale of each flat in two sevenstorey buildings that would come up on the plots Things were going well until 2017 but eventually he noticed something was not right ldquoThe construction of one building kept halting I was later told there were some legal issues which would be resolved Meanwhile the other building was completed in 2020 but to my shock I came to know it was illegalrdquo Mhatre saidStunned Mhatre approached the KDMC only to learn that the builders had not received approval from the corporation and had duped many homebuyersThe finished structure Samruddhi Heights has only four occupants ldquoDespite having land I have no money now Had these goon builders not cheated me I would have had a good retired life I urge the corporation and government to either demolish the structures or regularise them so that justice will be served to merdquo he addedWhen midday visited Samruddhi Heights the occupants who reside on the first floor were puzzled by questions about the legality of the structure A resident who didnrsquot wish to be named said ldquoWe have a registered agreement I donrsquot know about this legal thing You must have been given wrong informationrdquo He added ldquoWe have been told by the builders that everything is fine and not to believe rumoursrdquoWhen the correspondent told him about the scam and ongoing case he simply replied ldquoI donrsquot know why no one else is living in the building We have paid the money got the agreement on stamp paper and are paying the home loan I donrsquot know what one requires to buy a homerdquoPatil the whistleblower said ldquoNone of these 65 projects has any city survey numbers They canrsquot have conveyance and canrsquot be regularised The demolition of these buildings is the only way out I have full sympathy for the homebuyers The government can accommodate them in MHADA buildings but should not regularise structures and set a wrong precedentrdquoKDMCSpeakAssistant Municipal Commissioner Bharat Pawar told midday ldquoThe issue of these buildings was highlighted in 2020 and since then we are consistently following up on the matter The FIR was filed against developers and land owners architects and persons concerned The illegal buildings will definitely face action as we get approvals for the samerdquoOct 2022Month FIR was filed against accused