| After the recession lull, real estate is back in business in Bangalore. Yet, as multi-storey apartment blocks change the City’s skyline and the geography of its periphery, the property buyer is increasingly at the mercy of shady dealers.Investing their hard earned life-time savings, people find themselves cheated and reduced to wrecks. Toothless and manipulated, the civic agencies are of no help.
Money and morality seem to have lost value like never before for the average
Bangalorean. If the spiralling land prices have stumped him, the free hand given to the swindlers to loot has sounded the death knell for dreams of a roof over head.
For proof, sample this: Five years ago, about 475 people were given a rosy picture of getting their money doubled in a short time if they invest in land. Glibly, they collectively poured in crores of rupees. Eventually, they learnt that they had all along trusted a ghost firm, which wound up its business and vanished in thin air!
One of the investors, G Lakshmikantha of Mahalakshmipuram says that he fell into the trap, thanks to the massive publicity drive launched by Aishwarya Developers.
“The developers employed a good number of boys who gave away glossy pamphlets with attractive photographs of their projects. As their office was close by, many of us visited it and saw the plans of their proposed projects. To convince us, the developers took us on a site-seeing to Nelamangala. There, a set of people convinced us that the developers are men of integrity,” recalls Lakshmikantha.
The developers had showed the investors their projects in Bidadi, Nelamangala, Mysore Road and Mysore city. The money was to be paid in four instalments. After the first few instalments, the investors realised that there was no progress in the projects, although the developers claimed through letters that work was going on at a fast pace.
For four years, the investors remained patient. But in 2010, they grew suspicious when they found the developers’ office in Basaveshwaranagar closed most of the time. Later, the developers began disconnecting the calls.
Finally, the investors approached the Central Crime Branch (CCB) of the Bangalore police, and lodged their complaints in October last year. But even five months after lodging the complaints, there is no action against the developers.
The CCB assistant commissioner of police, S H Duggappa, explains: “We have 17 complaints lodged against Aishwarya Developers. The accused persons are in Bangalore and are under our watch.”
Proprietors of the firm refused to take calls from Deccan Herald despite repeated attempts.
Devanahalli: Swindlers’ hotbed
Proximity to Bengaluru International Airport might have made Devanahalli a hot destination for real estate market. But that has also helped dubious property dealers promise the moon with gay abandon and indulge in illegal land dealings.
As Mahadevaiah, a lawyer, puts it: “Devanahalli is not only a happening place for KIADB (Karnataka Industrial Areas Development Board) scamsters but also for cheats in the garb of land developers.”
Many developers, he claims, give fake approval numbers of the Bengaluru International Airport Area Planning Authority in advertisements. “There is a need to check the dubious advertisements published in various newspapers,” he said.
For instance, a few years ago, a developer of some repute had placed huge advertisements, trapping hundreds of investors. Eventually, thousands of clueless investors lost their money. Collective protests brought some assurance that their money would be refunded in instalments. Years later, they are still running from pillar to post, even as the authorities sport a blank look.
No tab on builders
Any guess how much space is required to build an apartment? Well, Bangalore presents some rare models. Standing as telling examples of building norm violations, you could spot multi-storey apartments even on a 30ft X 40ft plot of land.
One audacious case is that of a property on a 30X40 space in Jayamahal Extension. Located hardly a few yards from a BBMP assistant engineer’s office, two towering apartments comprising six and seven floors came up on this 1,200 sq ft land. Deccan Herald had reported it and followed it up for three days around two years ago, but the building is still intact. It is learnt that a politician and a bureaucrat’s family members had invested in that property.
In Indiranagar, close to the Metro track, an apartment block has sprung up on a 60X40 plot. Unable to digest this gross violation, an ex-army officer Naveen Kumar lodged a complaint with the BBMP, met all the senior officers of the Palike and the Bangalore Development Authority to halt the project. Yet, he failed and the building is now ready.
Laments a frustrated Kumar: “A seven-storey building has come up on a 40×60 ft site, that too with no setback. But no one is concerned about checking the building plan violations and proper implementation of the Town Planning Act.”
Now that the building has come up, Kumar is worried that the vibrations generated by the high-speed Metro train might unsettle the building and take a toll on other structures in its vicinity.
These are only a few samples of a much widespread malaise that has dug deep in Bangalore. But despite the outrageous, in-your-face violations, the civic agencies, including the BBMP and the BDA, don’t appear to be concerned.
Dubious dealers
The government also appears to be unaffected. With cases of site manipulation pending against some bigwigs within, the State has shown no interest to intervene and save investors from dubious builders and developers.
“Is there any law in the State to check the activities of builders and developers as we see in the case of bankers and insurance companies? We have no regulatory authority or any mechanism to save investors from dubious developers or builders. People are allowed to be exploited by developers,” says Lakshminarayana.
Tackling civil cases related to property, senior advocate Venkatesh Prasad knows the problem closely. “Developers today cannot be trusted, but tragically there is no specific law to protect investors putting money in real estate. Also there is no talk in the legal fraternity to demand a specific law to check investors,” he says.
Lokayukta’s suggestion
Lokayukta N Santosh Hegde is of the view that the government should introduce a title insurance authority to protect the interest of investors. Currently, there is no rule to protect people investing in real estate.
But if the government could work on it, the title insurance scheme could be the best thing, feels Hegde.
Under this scheme, builders and developers could enrol themselves with the insurance agency and submit all the documents pertaining to their projects. Buyers can also approach the agency and verify the genuine nature of the project.
“In case the firm comes out to be a fraud and flees, investors can get their money back from the title insurance agency. I advocate a single window system to authorise the projects and advise people whether to buy the property or not,” says the Lokayukta. |
Aishwarya / Presidency Group Fooled Investors 