The SC has allowed an NGO, which alleged that the draft master plan for Noida was altered, to convert a forest in Noida’s Sector 91 to a biodiversity park, to raise objections before the authorities concerned.

A Supreme Court bench, comprising justices DY Chandrachud and Hemant Gupta, has granted liberty to the NGO, ‘Society for Protection of Culture, Heritage, Environment, Traditions and Promotion of National Awareness’, to point its objections to the proposed change of the Noida Draft Master Plan of 2031. “Thereafter, if the appellant is aggrieved by the Master Plan as finalised, it would be open to it to adopt appropriate proceedings, in accordance with law,” the bench said.

The NGO had approached the apex court against a November 14, 2018, order of the National Green Tribunal (NGT), which disposed of the plea after taking note of the report by the Division Forest Officer (DFO) of Gautam Buddh Nagar. The NGO had moved the tribunal against the development of a biodiversity park in Sector 91, Noida, on the ground that illegal felling of trees was taking place. The apex court also clarified that the NGT order ‘will not come in the way of the appellant in pursuing its remedies under the law, including before the tribunal afresh’. The NGO had claimed before the NGT that although the DFO granted permission to the Noida Authority only for removal of eucalyptus trees, the authority ordered a private contractor to remove 3,000 trees of different species, which was in violation of the permission granted under the UP Trees Protection Act, 1976 and hence, the permission is liable to be quashed.

The NGO had sought prohibition on further felling of trees at the biodiversity park site and plantation of 10 times the number of trees felled by the Noida Authority, in and around the site. The Noida Authority plans to develop the biodiversity park on about 75 acres in Sector 91. The Authority has mandated it to be developed as ‘Noida Biodiversity Park’, as per the plan.

In the last five years, the real estate sector saw the average size of budget apartments in major cities, shrinking by 17 per cent to match affordability, a study has found.

The top seven Indian cities collectively saw the average size of budget-friendly apartments shrink by almost 17 per cent, between 2014 and 2018, according to a study. The Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) topped with a 27 per cent squeeze, followed by Kolkata with 23 per cent reduction, the report by ANAROCK Property Consultants showed. Bengaluru saw the least decline in average property size, at roughly 12 per cent during the period. The average size dip for Pune was 22 per cent, Delhi NCR 16 per cent, Chennai 15 per cent and Hyderabad 13 per cent.

“A major element contributing to the shrinking apartment sizes across most metros, is the rising demand for budget-friendly housing. With property prices going overboard in most metros, developers have been reducing sizes, to align their offerings more with the actual home buyer demand,” ANAROCK Property Consultants’ chairman, Anuj Puri said. Compact housing is the fastest seller in the resale market. So, such homes give millennials both, locational and financial flexibility, he said.

Among the factors leading to the shrinkage are the not-so-healthy job market and income in the last five years, a realty analyst said. The report also said that most home buyers are averse to the higher maintenance costs that larger properties entail.

“Live-in relationships are becoming more popular and socially acceptable and more and more young people give high priority to career growth, before deciding to marry and settle down,” Puri said. The mean age of marriage in India has increased from 21-25 years to 30-35 years, the report said.

82% of companies/businesses in India are introducing flexible working, to help attract and retain employees, finds a new study by IWG Global Workspace Survey

Businesses that do not have a flexible workspace policy, risk losing out on top talent, according to the findings by IWG Global Workspace Survey. For the majority of those surveyed, the definition of a flexible workspace policy is the ability to choose and change their workplace location. The research by IWG revealed that 83% of people globally would choose a job which offered flexible working, over a job that did not and almost a third (28%) of people value being able to choose their work location, over an increase in holiday allowance.

IWG released the study based on insights of over 15,000 professionals from a range of different industries in over 80 countries. The survey was independently managed by MindMetre Research. The sample was highly representative of senior managers and owners in businesses across the globe, spanning a variety of industries.

PUNE: Experts have said that the RERA, which was envisaged to usher in more transparency in the real estate industry, is yet to be an effective deterrent against malpractices.

As the RERA is a small quasi-judicial and administrative body (with three members and a few adjudicating officers for the entire state), it does not have the bandwidth to look into the details of over 19,000 registrations that were granted by the body in the state, so far.

The adjudicating officers themselves have powers to look at only certain sections of the act, while the main powers are bestowed only upon the members.

Experts have advised that even though disputes can be entertained later in courts, it is better for consumers to get conduct more due diligence. This can be done by consulting a lawyer on their own or perusing the documents for minute details and verifying the facts on the ground before investing.

Real estate lawyers said false and misleading information about control of open spaces, use of floor space index and completion of services creep into bilateral agreements due to the absence of checks and balances. “It is not uncommon for developers to easily eke out completion and occupancy certificates from the municipal corporation, irrespective of the status of work. People should themselves verify if all civic works have been completed,” said a Chinchwad-based property lawyer.

These malpractices, though common, now fall under section Section 7 of the RERA Act. “Consumers who have been allotted property can demand a refund if they are impacted by false information and exit the project. There is also a provision to impose a fine on the developers,” said property lawyer Harshal Jadhav.

So far, there is little evidence of people exercising this option as most of the complaints received by the RERA relate to just inordinate delay in the projects. The consumers can approach the RERA forum or the courts when the developer defaults on key promises. But it is a time-consuming process.

“Legally, buyers of properties where builders have defaulted (on the provision of promised services) can exercise their legal rights and drag the builder to court. They can issue a notice to the builder and/or approach consumer forums. The consumers can also issue legal notices to officials from corporations, in a case where the corporations have defaulted. In fact, there are many instances wherein both builders and corporations were involved in wrongdoings and the consumers had to suffer,” said Anuj Puri, the chairman of Anarock Property Consultants.

In the recent past, several developers have avoided mentioning the possession date in the agreement. We look at what home buyers can do, under RERA, in such cases, and recent judgements in favour of home buyers.

There have been cases galore, where home buyers have faced delays in getting the possession of their flats. In many cases, the delays have been for more than five to six years. Some developers have even gone to the extent of not mentioning the date of possession in the agreement, leading to mental and financial trauma for the home buyers.

While taking a serious note of the issue, the Maharashtra Real Estate Regulatory Authority (MahaRERA), in a recent judgement, directed Skyline Construction Company to refund Rs 1.06 crores, along with an interest of 10.55 per cent to actor Vrajesh Hirjee, for failing to hand over possession and keeping the date of possession clause empty in the registered agreement. The Authority also asked the builder to refund tax deducted at source (TDS) and stamp duty paid by Hirjee. In another case, Aparna Singh, who had purchased a flat in a residential project in Thane, was not able to claim interest relief under Section 18 of the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act (RERA) rules, due to the absence of the possession date in the sale agreement. In her case, the RERA tribunal ordered the developer to pay interest to her, even though the date was not mentioned in the agreement.

What is possession date?

The possession date, in case of a home purchase agreement, is the date on which the unit’s possession is to be handed over to the buyer. This date should be clearly mentioned in the agreement and is well-defined under the RERA norms and rules. “The possession date, generally known as completion date, is usually a few months or years from the date of entering into or executing the agreement in favour of the flat purchaser. It is the date when the developer completes the construction work of the building and obtains the requisite permissions from the local body/authority, for permitting the flat purchasers to occupy the same. In other words, it is the date from which the buyer has the right to demand the possession of the flat from the developer,” explains Parth Mehta, managing director of Paradigm Realty.

The RBI board had warned of the short-term negative impact of demonetisation on the country’s economic growth and observed that the unprecedented move will not have any material impact on tackling the black money menace.

Although demonetisation is ‘a commendable measure’, it would have ‘short-term negative effect on the GDP for the current year’, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) board had said, as per the minutes of the meeting, posted by RTI activist Venkatesh Nayak on the website of Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative. “Most of the black money is held, not in the form of cash but in the form of real sector assets such as gold or real estate and that this move would not have a material impact on those assets,” the board observed, in its 561st meeting held in Delhi.

The board, according to minutes of the meeting revealed by the central bank in an RTI reply, had met just two-and-a-half hours before prime minister Narendra Modi in an address to the nation, announced the demonetisation decision on November 8, 2016.

The minutes of the crucial board meeting, which approved the government’s request for demonetisation, recorded the presence of the then RBI governor Urjit Patel and the then economic affairs secretary Shaktikanta Das. Others at the board meeting included the then financial services secretary Anjuli Chib Duggal and RBI deputy governors R Gandhi and SS Mundra. Both, Gandhi and Mundra, are not part of the board now, while Das was appointed as the RBI governor in December 2018. Curbing black money was one of the prime objectives of the shock move to junk old Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes, which saw 86 per cent of high-value currency going out of circulation.

The prime minister had announced demonetisation of high-value currency notes with the aim to curb the black money, check counterfeit currency and stop terror finance, among others. While any incidence of counterfeiting is a concern, the minutes said, Rs 400 crores as a percentage of the total quantum of currency in circulation in the country, is not very significant.

Of the Rs 15.41 lakh crores worth of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes in circulation on November 8, 2016, notes worth Rs 15.31 lakh crores came back during the 50-day window for depositing junk notes given to resident Indians and till June 2017 for non-resident Indians. Only Rs 10,720 crores of the junked currency notes did not return to the banking system, while the rest 99.9% was deposited, raising a question mark over the government’s effort of curbing black money through demonetisation.

The minutes pointed that “The growth rate of economy mentioned is the real rate while the growth in currency in circulation is nominal. Adjusted for inflation, the difference may not be so stark. Hence, this argument does not adequately support the recommendation (in favour of demonetisation)”. The government has always maintained that the decision did not have much impact on the GDP growth. The board was assured that the government would take mitigating measures to contain the use of cash, it said.

In another reply, the RBI has said it has no data on the old Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes used to pay for utility bills such as fuel at petrol pumps – payments that are anonymous and are believed to have formed a good part of the demonetised currency that returned to the banking system. The government had allowed the exchange of the junked notes, as well as they being used for payment of utility bills for 23 services. Old 500 and 1,000 rupee notes could be used at government hospitals, railway ticketing, public transport, airline ticketing at airports, milk booths, crematoria/burial grounds, petrol pumps, metro rail tickets, purchase of medicines on doctor prescription from the government and private pharmacies, LPG gas cylinders, railway catering, electricity and water bills, ASI monument entry tickets and highway toll.

On November 25, 2016, the exchange of old notes was stopped and the government allowed the use of only old 500 rupee notes at these utilities, till December 15, 2016. The government, however, stopped the use of even this currency at petrol pumps and for the purchase of air tickets at airports abruptly, with effect from December 2, 2016, after reports that they were becoming fronts for laundering of old currency notes.

A developing micro-market comprising several residential options, government offices and research institutes.

This week’s realty hot spot is Pashan-Sus Road, Pune. The main draws of this well-developed area are its good connectivity to commercial areas and presence of good infrastructure. It is well-connected through the Pashan-Sus Road, Baner Road, Mumbai Highway (NH-48) and Shivaji Nagar Railway Station.

It is a micro-market with property prices ranging between Rs 4680 and Rs 8980 per square feet. Pashan-Sus Road is 19 KM away from the airport, 8 KM from the nearest railway station and 1 KM from the National Highway 48.

With senior citizens projected to form nearly 34 per cent of the population of the country by the end of the century, the centre has issued guidelines for the regulation and redevelopment of retirement homes.

To protect the rights of senior citizens and address the special needs, the government, on March 6, 2019, said that it has issued guidelines for the regulation and redevelopment of retirement homes. According to a statement, a task force for constant dialogue with states and other stakeholders will be constituted by the union Housing and Urban Affairs Ministry, to ensure implementation of these guidelines.

A developer can build and manage the ‘retirement homes’ or engage a ‘service provider’ or ‘retirement home operator’ for the management of these homes, the guidelines say. Such service providers will be required to be registered with appropriate state authorities. “The model guidelines provide for the disclosure of technical skills of the service provider at the time of executing the ‘Agreement to Sale’ in the form of a ‘Tri-Partite Agreement’ to be executed among the developer, service provider/retirement home operators and the allottee,” the statement says.

Retirement homes should be aligned with the principles, guidelines and norms prescribed in the National Building Code (NBC), Model Building Bye Laws and Harmonized Guidelines and Space Standards for Barrier Free Built Environment for Persons with Disability and Elderly Persons. Retirement home apartments can only be sold, after registration under the respective Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act (RERA) of the states, the government also said.

“From approximately 7.6 crores in 2001, the number of senior citizens in India has increased to 10.4 crores in 2011. This number is expected to grow to 17.3 crores by 2025 and about 24 crores by 2050. By the end of the century, senior citizens will constitute nearly 34 per cent of the total population of the country,” said the statement.

Prime minister Narendra Modi is likely to inaugurate the 6.6-km Noida City Centre-Noida Electronic City section of the Delhi Metro’s Blue Line, as well as the 9.4-km-long Dilshad Garden-New Bus Adda section of the Red Line, on March 8, 2019

Prime minister Narendra Modi is likely to inaugurate the 6.6-km Noida City Centre-Noida Electronic City section, an extension of the Delhi Metro’s Blue Line, on March 8, 2019, official sources said. On the same day, the prime minister is also slated to inaugurate the 9.4-km-long Dilshad Garden-New Bus Adda section, an extension of the Red Line.

According to officials, Prime Minister Modi will launch civilian flight operations at Hindon airbase and inaugurate the Dilshad Garden-New Bus Adda section of the Delhi Metro’s Red Line on March 8. After inaugurating the metro corridor, the prime minister will return to the airbase, where he will launch the civilian flight operations and will then address a public meeting, at an adjacent ground. Sources said, the prime minister is likely to inaugurate the extension of the Blue Line during the public meeting, along with a few other projects. After opening of the two corridors, the Delhi Metro’s span will extend to over 342 kms, with 250 stations.

We look at some of the basic fire safety provisions that home buyers can check for, in high-rise buildings, to ascertain whether it is safe for occupation

Fire is undoubtedly a big hazard that people moving into high-rise apartments in megacities, need to consider. The aftermath of gruesome infernos at Kamala Mills in Mumbai’s Lower Parel business district and the fires at high-rises like the ultra-posh Beau Monde Apartments in Prabhadevi or the slum rehabilitation buildings of Samrat Ashok SRA CHS in Mahalakshmi, show that fire is a common enemy to all – rich or poor. Hence, it has become imperative for anyone who is buying an apartment today to ascertain whether his dream house is fire-compliant.

In the fire at Crystal Tower, there were allegations that the electrical ducts were not sealed properly at each floor. Further footage of the fire revealed that the residents were trapped at the upper floors and the fire brigade had to use ladders and hydraulic platforms, to rescue the trapped residents. In the Samrat Ashok SRA fire at Mahalakshmi, the inferno broke out in the rehabilitation buildings constructed for the erstwhile slum-dwellers. Here too, the allegations were that the fire broke out in the electrical duct on the third floor and travelled all the way to the top of the 18-storey building, trapping many and killing one in the process.

While a fire has many causes and the authorities are quick to pin the blame on the society and residents for poor upkeep and storage of hazardous goods on the premises, seldom are fingers pointed at the fire officials who issued permits to such hazardous structures in the first place. It is no secret that such buildings are in essence ‘vertical slums’, with 20-storey towers cooped closely together, leaving no room for ventilation, sunlight, open space or enough access space for heavy fire engines. The final outcome is a death trap, which, tragically in a crowded city like Mumbai, is turning into an inferno with frightening regularity.