Orphan City!

 
“The speed of decision making is the essence of good governance”…. Piyush Goyal.

Well most know this personality yet for those who are ignorant about Indian Politics for them, Piyush Vedprakash Goyal is an Indian politician. He is the current minister of Railways, Coal and Corporate Affairs in the Government of India; He was elevated to Cabinet Minister Position on 3 September 2017. Mr Piyush Goyal is one of most dynamic ministers of Team PM (Hon Narendra Modi’s elite squad, in good way) & his above words does make us know he is man of decision! Why I remembered his these words is as usual our beloved Pune city, which is Smart City No 1, Most Liveable City in country, Oxford of East etc etc! Indeed it is a very good city in compare to many other cities not just in country but other countries also & we have many great people working in many great organizations (even govt ones) to make this city a great place yet, this yet is the reason for making us remind Goyal saab’s words about decisions! Recently if you open any news paper then apart from financial scams or sports one thing about city section you notice & that is about conflicts between various departments (obviously govt’s) & every department claiming that they are correct & are committed to the development of the city! And keeping full faith in their claims, let’s look at the headlines of news papers in just last week…

1.    There is row between policy of TDR for the Metro work, there are two rather three rather four agencies which are responsible for Metro, i.e. PMC, PCMC, PMRDA & Metro Corporation itself! Well before going in depth lets understand PMC is responsible for development under Pune city, PCMC is responsible for Pimpri Chinchwad where as PMRDA is governing developments anything & everything out of these two corporation limits & Metro Corporation is the executing authority of the Metro rail! And each agency thinks they are boss of the work under their jurisdiction making the citizens confused with the policies they makes! For e.g. all concerned agrees that to make Metro viable (this again is in itself doubtful aspect of development) there has to be more FSI (read more homes or population along Metro track) along Metro track & as there are two seperat6e tracks of Metro so we have two separate polices for the same. PMC has come up with a policy (read idea) that 4 FSI will be given only in 500 meters radius of the Metro stations whereas PMRDA says it will be all along 500 meters distance on both sides of Metro track! Well there are chances that few areas will come under both Metro’s tracks, so some Punekar’s sarcastically asked whether there will be 8 FSI for such properties & shall they wait till then for the development of these properties! Metro was announced nearly four years back & work started one year back & yet there is no decision of what FSI will be given for Metro route obviously when we don’t know how much FSI will be given then nobody has bothered to check how this FSI will be consumed i.e. its utilization feasibility on fronts of side margins, parking & then many other things like water as well drainage lines to take care of this added residential load. Most importantly already the city electric power demand is very high & several times MSEDCL (well, MSEB) whose jurisdiction is supplying electric power to the city, has complained about poor infra for the same, how we will be managing this fourfold increase in load demand for the added FSI burden? When the above four agencies can’t even conclude on FSI policy I doubt whether they have even bothered to inform or consult MSEDCL for the future increase in electric load of the city centre! And not just that for last nearly one year entire PMC, PCMC’s real estate is at hold due to this TOD mess as with both the routes covering nearly half of the city & FSI policy itself not in place not even the God can work out the viability of the project here & we talk about ease of doing business!

2.  Then there was another news about PMRDA‘s TP (Town Planning Scheme) i.e. in a way development plan for controlled (read planned) growth of geographically very important suburb Mhalunge as its in a way gate-way to Hinjawadi IT park. Here lots of land was put under green zone (read, no development zone), which again was the joke in present RP i.e. regional plan!  This land was lying idle for so many years where as all its peripheral surrounding has developed, a wonder how the illegal developments were not mushroomed here till now! The most important issue was a 150 feet wide road has been planned towards Hinjawadi IT Park by MIDC (One more organization which governs Hinjawadi IT Park), PMC & PMRDA as by now traffic jams towards Hinjawadi IT Park has become social media’s laughing stock! There is a joke going on whats-ap circuit that, “A man driving his BMW offers lift to a pedestrian  for his destination to Hinjawadi IT Park, on this the pedestrian replies, no thanks, I will reach earlier walking”! I think this show the grave situation of so called IT Park which is home to hundreds of world class companies & look what message we are sending to the world about the way we govern our civic infrastructure! Now the said proposed road goes through the Mhalunge village’s no development zone as where PMRDA has announced TP Scheme. By virtue of the TP scheme major development projects can be undertaken in this area which is spread over 450hectors. This TP scheme will be a great boost for the infra as well job creations in Pune region is said but as usual, the said scheme’s future is in dark due to “who is the Boss?” game, between PMRDA & Town Planning Dept! As per the news in media PMRDA says no need to take any cognizance of Town Planning dept about the TP Scheme plans where as State govt has asked PMRDA to take suggestions from TP about the same. This again is a joke as if PMRDA is a planning authority itself then why to take suggestion from another planning authority & if yes then what is meaning of “suggestions”? As the term suggestion can mean anything i.e. right from changing entire concept of TP Scheme to minor changes, so what if TP asks PMRDA to change entire plan? And in such case what’s the future of Mhalunge TP Scheme as well entire development of said area?

3.  Then another such joke is going about the so called hyped Ring Road as there are two ring roads, one by PMRDA & another by PWD (one more dept i.e. Public Works Dept, many call it as Public Wait Dept also). Now if PMRDA is formed for entire Pune region’s planning then how there can be another dept that too with same agenda as ring road? And then PWD is here from years before PMRDA came in existence, who has stopped them to plan the said ring road & mark it by now? This could have avoided PMRDA’s troubles of marking the road’s alignment & all it would have required to do is acquire the land for the road & develop it! Result is right now no one is sure about the alignment of ring road (rather which ring road is real) & who is going to do it & how? But that’s how the govt seems to work especially when its infrastructure as all it has to do is point the finger at each other & let common man wait for the road to come in reality!

4. And then comes the Transportation Hub by Smart City Corporation, oh yeah I forgot to mention this one more agency in the city as for those who might not be knowing our Pune city is Smart City also & there is separate company to see that it becomes smarter (off course if it’s already smart then it can only get smarter). Now don’t ask what this agency is doing & where is smartness as it’s a long term thing & in a city where public cycles are burnt or thrown in garbage the citizens either doesn’t need smart city or don’t deserve it. So from the dat5e of its birth i.e. formation of Smart City Company (or Corporation whatever it is) has locked its horns with its parental agency i.e. PMC. Every day there is news in media about the row over decisions taken by Smart City Company & PMC, may it be digital display board or road beautification! The latest tussle is an ambitious project declared by Smart City Co i.e. Transit Hub at Balewadi (a western suburb of Pune). On one side Smart City people have made great presentations & announcements about this project right from its utility for public transport to its employment generation & on other side PMC seems to be ignorant about the noble purpose of Transit Hub as it has refused to give the land where this so called Hub is going to come! And now the new twist is the said land doesn’t comes under the jurisdiction of PMC is what been told & the proposal to hand over this land to Smart City Co has been referred to State govt by PMC! Well, now you can imagine the future of the Transit Hub!

5. If all this confusion is about upcoming projects or infra structure then the existing tug of war is also on & most popular of them is water issue. For ages like in Marvel movies X men, all the time the good mutants & bad mutants are at war, here too PMC & irrigation dept of State is at war over the water consumption by Pune city (read citizens). Both sides have their own claims about use of water & needless to say both sides never agree on one figure! Can you imagine we are in 2018 & yet neither PMC nor Irrigation dept can conclude on one single figure of how much water Pune daily consumes! Obvious outcome is everyday Irrigation dept demands X amount from PMC for water & PMC declines & yet the so called smart city’s many parts always face water shortage! And on the top of it new twist is the water which is flowing through the city from the canals will now be run through pipe line & claims are nearly 3 TMC water which is currently wasted due to losses will be saved & this 3 TMC will be given to PMRDA! Great, wonderful, wow, I am at loss of words to praise the governance of this city & do mind we are No 1 or No 2 Smart City in the country, god save other cities, if it is so! When issue is water then that’s the most neglected aspect in urban planning & we don’t need Nostradamus to tell us about over what the next world war will be but water. I don’t know about world war but war between all above agencies has already started & in no time it will reach to citizens & will be fought on street if this negligent approach of all the planning authorities continues!

Above is just trailer or teasers of what’s going on the front of city planning. As there is one more authority now in game & that is Green Tribunal which intervenes on many planning decisions including even over ruling DC ire Development Control Rules made by PMC or PCMC or PMRDA! May it be hill top hill slope or natural water sources conservation; no two minds about importance of conserving nature in & around the city but sit together & make the rules or guide lines once for all is what a common man (read developer) will say! As every new day comes with new policy or change in planning making working near impossible & then we are supposed to provide homes for millions of the citizens who or else get succumbed to illegal constructions which are made without bothering for any of above mentioned authorities as eventually the God Father of all these agencies i.e. Mai Baap Sarkar regularizes every illegal construction is a fact!

What I wonder is exactly what State Govt is intend to do with real estate of this city rather with entire city, why just real estate! Because if decentralization is the target you are working then why PMC or PCMC or PMRDA or Smart City Co has to take approval from Sate Govt for every now & then( read UD i.e. Urban Development Dept)! And if State Govt wants to keep all the controls in its hands (read Mantralay), then why form so many agencies as planning authorities because all you have to do is make a central urban planning commission for entire Pune region, make a once for all master plan, take noc’s or approval from environment dept & give this master plan for execution to the local authorities. At the same time ensure that the local authorities have been given powers to execute this master plan & they are using these powers for delivering the outcome! And outcome is same whether you are PMC or PCMC or PMRDA i.e. the citizen needs a simple liveable life where if nor ample but adequate water will be available through taps, the roads will be in good condition, public transport of all sorts & not just Metro, electricity on demand will be available, drainage lines network in place, lots of open spaces & greenery. Just give this & rest will follow i.e. education, public health, entertainment & jobs! Unfortunately right now the city has nothing of above but only too many parents, making citizens confused whose baby it is & if things continued on the same track then no wonder soon we will be called as Orphan City if not Smart City!

-- 

Sanjay Deshpande 

Sanjeevani Dev.

Please view my sharing about real estate in Pune at U-Tube link below..

https://youtu.be/g3lx1Nq7pBs

Please do visit my blogs to know about our philosophy at Sanjeevani ! (Click the links below)

http://visonoflife.blogspot.com/2018/08/pune-city-no-1.html

http://jivnachadrushtikon.blogspot.in/

Social Side of Sanjeevani ! (Click link below)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/65629150@N06/sets/72157627904681345/

For any of your complaints about city, log in at link below

www.punecorporation.org

Take your issues to Hon PM at link below..

https://secure.mygov.in/#

Think Green, Think Life

www.sanjeevanideve.com

Serena, Sarkar & Ganpati!

Remember, with great power, comes great responsibility… Spider-Man.

Respected all Ministers, MPs’, MLAs’, Corporators’ alias our Rulers i.e. "Mai Baap Sarkar" of this Maharashtra State,

Saprem Pranam & first of all let me tell you I have great respect for you all especially your stand on many issues like farmers suicides, inflation (mahagai), caste reservations & many such . I know there are many who don’t like your ways & many more who may be afraid of your karyakartas’ but then that’s what makes you as leader going by our country’s definition of it! By the way you may not be even knowing me as I am an engineer in Pune but today I am writing you all because of the news about the stand which most of our elected members (read people’s representatives) have taken regarding DJ ban by Hon Court (Speaker walls) in Ganpati Mirawnuka & immersion of Ganesh statues in natural water bodies in your respective cities’ as well towns. Please forgive me if your stand is different but what has been printed surely is not going to make your image good in the eyes of masses (read your majority voters) & then even as MPs’ you are not just some Members of Parliament out of five hundred odd numbers of them but you all are representing the State of Shivaji Maharaj’s who is the greatest ruler of recent times. This is the main reason I feel like writing each of yours image has very high value in the eyes of millions of citizens of this State which proudly calls it as Shivaraya’s State! And in today’s times a Member of Parliament (MP) or Member of Legislative Assembly (MLA) even a Municipal Corporator or Zillah Parishad Member too is in a way Raja (king) of his constituency with his or her voters as Praja! And do mind Shivaji Maharaj was respected not only for his bravery or fighting with Mughals but for his fair ruling & justice also!

Let me tell you what I read about entire you respected Rajas’s stand over court’s verdicts about ban on loud speakers’ walls & well immersing in natural water bodies! First is you all support for continuing use of DJ i.e. speakers with full volume in Ganpati Visarjan Miravnuk & this your stand is considering the poor music system owners who has invested in the equipments as they will face heavy losses by such decision of Court & their families will too suffer due to such losses. Indeed as a Raja of your constituency you must think if any segment of society is having any problem of survival due to such policies as after all Courts also need to think on these lines. But then Hon Court has been ruled against use of DJ in mirawnuka keeping in mind larger good of entire society! Here many of the elected members are pointing fingers towards other events causing sound pollution which were given permission for some or other music festival as & use of loud speakers in the event which was permitted by police as well Courts! With due respect, this statement, had it made by any other citizen I wouldn’t have commented but you all are Raja in a way for your Praja & please do understand one wrong act can’t justify doing another wrong act! Use of loud speaker walls at any cultural or religious purpose is equally wrong but then you can ask people to go in Court against it if next year such permission has been given by authorities  rather even you as people’s representative, also can file individually such petition. That will make people respect law more instead taking the stand that if some wrong permission is given so what’s harm in giving another wrong permission!

This ban on DJ Speakers is ruling by Hon Court of our very own country & please do think would Shivaji Maharaj has ever spoken against his own judicial system which has given some verdict in the interests of entire society & not just for some segments of it? Dear elected members (read Raje), these are times when common man (read society) has already enough suffering through different pollution such as air, sound , water & many such & with due respect the sound these speaker walls makes is harmful to old people as well small children & they too are your people only (Read praja) just like the DJ system owners! All these people look at you only to give them peaceful living & if not you whom they should complain about the sound pollution! You all are Raja & one word from you will surely make Govt to do something for the losses the DJ music system owners suffering as if this Govt can think for farmers then why not music system owners. But imagine the damage which will be happening to health of thousands of people by the sound pollution this DJ system will create & all these people too are your very own Praja!

Then the Hon Courts have banned immersion of Ganpati Statues in the lakes, rivers or natural water bodies of any city, but it seems that many of you are saying who will stop you from immersing in your city’s own water sources as they belongs to your city or town! As elected member of ruling house, indeed no one can stop you immersing Ganpati statues in your city’s or ward’s own lakes or rivers but then do you remember we all had a chapter in our school days about how Shivaji Maharaj has instructed his Generals as well Fort In charges (Sardar & Killedar) about not cutting trees & taking care of bio diversity, that’s what has made him Janata Raja! Please for once think if any lake or river is your city’s or town’s (read mean local citizens) then all the species like fish, snakes, insects in such lake or river also become your Praja & if the pollution created by Ganpati Immersion is going to kill all these species then who will they go for their survival?

Please do think, a Raja is like God for not just the human beings in his jurisdiction but for every species under his ruler-ship & Raja’s responsibility is towards even the life of an ant in his kingdom! Now you only think what we will achieve by allowing Ganpati immersion in not just your lakes or rivers but any lake or river rather each of you can lead entire State by your example by not allowing Ganpati immersion in any natural water body in our city as well with a mirawnuk which will create least sound pollution. And you can do it as people in your constituency war-ship you for what you are & you are good that’s why they have voted you! Then one more thing is about Ganpati pendols on road making nuisance to already chocked traffic as well pedestrians, indeed it’s high time we should think the way we celebrate Ganpati festival, is it to make people happy or to make them suffer more?

I know most of our MP’s & MLA’s are sports lovers & in a recent foot-ball world cup entire world praised Japanese fans as they cleaned stadium post match of their team by collecting  garbage created by them during the match! Similarly can’t each of you lead this movement of “stop-pollution” by yourself in your constituency & let the world praise you for taking such initiative & yet take care the DJ owners too, is what I will ask you as your Praja (Read citizen)!

Dear Elected Rajas’, one more sports example I want to share, in recent US Open, tennis queen Serena Williams had heated argument with the Umpire as some decision went against her. And she used wrong words to the umpires for which she got fined. The issue you also must have been reading is hot in media with many celebrities speaking for & against Serena over her stand. Serena said she is female that’s why umpire was harsh with her as such many incidences where male player is involved have been neglected by the umpires. Well, point taken but does that makes Serena right, is what even you also will ask as a sportsman by yourself, isn’t it? Rather Serena being a world number one player should lead by her example by respecting the umpire even though he may have been wrong as he is after all a human & can make error! Best way would have been Serena sportingly should have accepted the wrong decision & after match should have registered her complaint to the authorities about the poor umpiring.  This is because she is number one player & millions of young players look at her as their idol & this is where the Spider Man quote comes in picture as being a king or number one is great power but with it that makes you most responsible person also as then it’s not just your alone but million’s fate depends on what you do! Same responsibility each of you carry on your shoulders as our representative, as it’s the stand you take against pollution will decide what our youths will grow up copying!

So, my elected members you all have always been very sensitive towards the social issues as well problems common man has to face & pollution in every form is the biggest problem which not just the humans but even species like sparrows & butterflies are facing  it, making them extinct from the city! You must have read that now a days you don’t get to see birds like mainas, bulbuls, sparrows in our once green Pune & main reason is sound & air pollution as these species can’t survive high pitch sounds as well air full of all toxic gasses from our vehicles. Same is scene with many species which used to reside in Mula-Mutha Rivers & lakes of the cities, as we have polluted all natural water sources & we have killed most of water born species of fish & insects. I appeal all the MLAs’, MPs’ & Corporators of the city, it will be great thing if you all unite & make this Ganpati Festival as show case & prove the world that you really care for environment as well your city (read Praja), is all I wanted to share. Pune has been always famous in country for its Ganpati Festival so let’s make it more proud by making pollution-less Wisarjan Mirawnuk reality! I am sorry if I have said something wrong & please forgive for that but then as your Praja I felt like sharing my views as I care for each of you as our Janata Raja! Ganpati Bappa Moraya!

Sanjay Deshpande 

Sanjeevani Dev.

Please view my sharing about real estate in Pune at U-Tube link below..

https://youtu.be/g3lx1Nq7pBs

Please do visit my blogs to know about our philosophy at Sanjeevani ! (Click the links below)

http://visonoflife.blogspot.com/2018/08/pune-city-no-1.html

http://jivnachadrushtikon.blogspot.in/

Social Side of Sanjeevani ! (Click link below)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/65629150@N06/sets/72157627904681345/

For any of your complaints about city, log in at link below

www.punecorporation.org

Take your issues to Hon PM at link below..

https://secure.mygov.in/#

Think Green, Think Life

www.sanjeevanideve.com

RERA Effect on Real Estate!

"Real estate is one sector that India is not very proud of"…. Kushal Pal Singh.

Kushal Pal Singh Tewatia is an Indian real estate developer, and the chairman and CEO of real estate developer DLF Limited, founded by his father-in-law Chaudhary Raghvender Singh. DLF has an estimated land bank of 10,255 acres, with about 3,000 acres being in Gurugram, called DLF City. Well, with a quote like that to start my sharing many of my fellow professionals (read builders) would have frowned but then the person who said those words himself is one of the top builders in this very country, so I didn’t said it! And frankly to celebrate (read analyze) fifteen months of RERA era (read a year) I couldn’t found a better quote than this as unless you accept something is wrong when things are going wrong, you won’t ever make them right! And indeed real estate which was on down fall since last three years clearly hasn’t been showing good outcomes post RERA. When we say real estate doing good or bad then it has always got two sides i.e. it’s doing good for builders or for homebuyer! Unlike any other industry when an industry is said to be doing good then it has to be a win-win situation i.e. automobile segment is doing good means, bike/car makers are happy as well the customers too are happy with what product they are getting! But then that’s why real estate is different here builders(read homemakers) & clients (read home buyers) are never on one side but always aiming guns at each other’s like Bharat-Pak border! So when real estate is said to be doing bad its mostly against developers but the flat holders should be happy as the homes have definitely become dearer (read cheaper) post RERA, though that wasn’t the outcome RERA has been formed for!

With increasing complaints about the builders by the customers to regulate the real estate sector, the government came up with the idea of Real Estate Regulatory Authority (RERA) Bill which is expected to help buyers. RERA is supposed to protect the interest of the homebuyer and ensure timely delivery of projects. Real Estate Regulatory Authority (RERA) Bill was introduced in 2013 and finally the bill got approved in March last year. Although RERA is a central law, its implementation will depend on state governments, as real estate is a State subject. Maharashtra government had approved the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act (RERA). The deadline for online submission of realty projects under RERA was, July 31, 2017 & finally RERA has arrived in our State, its applicable for mostly every for every project where real estate development is being done in any form i.e. residential, commercial, co-operative societies, layout of plots & any such development. Even the real estate agents are also required to have RERA registration. There is lots of information available on many portals about RERA & its applicability, so no point in using more word space here, let’s get in to the scene now after nearly fifteen months of its entry in real estate…

At a recent summit in our very Pune to take review about implementation of RERA in country, Hon Central Housing Minister praised govt’s especially Maharashtra Govt about RERA implementation as well warned the States for not diluting RERA act (read provisions in it). Indeed Maharashtra is law abiding State (read most & not the only law abiding State or else other States will jump at me), all figures are available on RERA web site yet will share just one aspect, out of nearly 32,000 registrations of projects & agents in the country, nearly 17,000 are from Maharashtra alone! Do I need to say more about the way our State is ahead of others & full credit to State govt as well the builders & agents here, as do mind any law is successful only if people follow it willingly! Another reason is Maharashtra is definitely ahead in planned urban growth & obvious it’s the planned urban development which is more law abiding & that’s why you see more registrations here. One more aspect is developers from Pune & Mumbai & their willful attitude towards RERA as even out of 17,000 registrations from Maharashtra nearly 75% is from Pune, Thane & Mumbai making them front runners in RERA implementation yet most complaints are from this belt only!

Whenever its mention of RERA, two questions are often asked, whether the prices of homes has come down due to RERA as well has the service of the developers improved post RERA? Well, as I said RERA was never meant to reduce or increase prices of the real estate (read homes) but it’s brought in to make real estate to adopt fair practices for the home buyers. In making so there has been few provisions such as not accepting money more than 10% unless registration of agreements. This has driven away the investors as earlier investors used to block the flats by paying some money to the developers without doing any agreement by saving on nearly 6% on stamp duty & plus equal on taxes like service tax/vat (now GST) & then selling the flat later stage at premium. This has been stopped; obviously the premium aspect is gone from the real estate so is appreciation, making homes cheaper. And then the developer is supposed to use the money received from the booking only for the construction of the said project, thus there is huge reduction in new land deals which builders used to buy from booking amount of any project & hold on the said land, again a way of appreciation of land prices reflecting in end product i.e. home’s price rise! These two things surely have driven prices of homes to settle at a datum if not rise & that itself is huge price reduction! And then as the real estate agents also are needed to be registered under the RERA & so are their transactions, that also has helped to wipe out the margins these agents were keeping in the home deals which is one more price affecting factor!

Now coming to the service to the customer, because of RERA at least now exists a forum which is solely dedicated to the real estate issues & do mind RERA has provisions to protect builders also from the bogus or ill minded customers! Major complaints from the customers against the builders were only two or three i.e. delay in possession or rate hike in mid way or deferring from the commitments made such as not giving the shown amenities/room dimensions, changing location of the flat within the complex! I think with RERA in many of the builders have realized it will be difficult to get away by doing so & then if some builder still does so, then the customer has avenue available to give justice & in time. In Mumbai & Pune the builders associations i.e. CREDAI has gone a step ahead & has formed RERA committees along with panel members form NGOs’ to sort out the dispute between clients & builders before it goes to RERA authority & sorting out such issues as per RERA guidelines! This in itself is great move which acknowledges success of RERA as this is what the act for, to assist customers as well builders too in the deal they have entered in! Finally lets accept that there will be good builders & there will be bad builders always & good builders will definitely follow not just RERA but any such act because their basic principle of doing the business is good i.e. keep your customers happy & all will be fine! Where as bad builders will just follow the age old crime philosophy, make people fool & you make fast money! RERA or not, ultimately it’s the client who has to decide whom he or she deals with for his home. As RERA will surely help in punishing the criminal elements of real estate but then do mind justice doesn’t always means giving you what you wanted to have in first place! In many cases recently even RERA has thrown up hands by just de-registering the developer or his firm as the said company is clearly unable to give possession of the flats due to their financial mess (read unable to complete the project), now what should the flat holders of such projects do as just de-registering some project, the project is not going to get completed! I think there are yet many gray areas even in RERA as its just one year old, sure both, govt as well builders ( read good builders) knows the limitations of young RERA & will come up with proper amendments, till then its real estate customers who should realize that no law can govern any industry but the customer!

Just one aspect here, can RERA be applicable to govt also? As when its question of transparency, commitments & ethical practices then look at the ever changing policies of our govt regarding real estate, making business nearly impossible. Right from delay in sanctioning development plans of the cities to providing basic civic infrastructure like water, roads, power, drainage etc, govt is failing on every front. Because if RERA is for the benefit of end user (read home buyer) & to see that whatever he or she has been committed gets delivered Then what about bad roads, poor water supply & absence of other civic infrastructure which is supposedly responsibility of the govt (PMC, PMRDA & PCMC types). Let’s do mind, via millions of rupees being collected through the premiums, developments charges & many such govt is also beneficial party to the entire deal of a home! And if by accepting mere 2% of the deal if we are bringing real estate agents under the RERA then why not make the respective govts’ (read civic bodies like PMC) also party to RERA for their committed role in providing infrastructure to these homes! As in the form of collecting all the taxes as well premiums, govt also is beneficiary from real estate development is a fact!

There is one big hurdle in real estate which makes builders as villain in eyes of RERA & that’s State Govt’s failure on various urban issues; I am not dishonoring verdict of Hon Court but in last few incidences banning new construction seems has become motto of the system, reasons of which we will surely discuss but have a look at this; local bodies (read like of  PMC, PCMC, BMC) are unable to supply enough water to the residents, stop new constructions or giving permissions, the civic body doesn’t have a drainage net work, stop new construction, sand is being excavated from the rivers, stop new construction, hill top hill slopes are being encroached, stop new construction around them, streams/ natural water ways are being shrunk, stop new constructions around them,  air port’s suddenly realized their flying norms, stop new constructions, defense establishments has changed their boundary norms, stop new constructions, environment clearance violence has been observed in some case, stop new construction & the list is ever growing! All the Hon Court’s decisions against construction which are outcome of respective State govt’s or Central govt's incapability does affects construction speed as well bookings & in the end it’s the builder who has to pay in the court of RERA as Govt’s job is done with bringing RERA in but it’s the builders who has to build & deliver the homes which this country’s citizens are only going to live!!

Sanjay Deshpande 

Sanjeevani Dev.

Please view my sharing about real estate in Pune at U-Tube link below..

https://youtu.be/g3lx1Nq7pBs

Please do visit my blogs to know about our philosophy at Sanjeevani ! (Click the links below)

http://visonoflife.blogspot.com/2018/08/pune-city-no-1.html

http://jivnachadrushtikon.blogspot.in/

Social Side of Sanjeevani ! (Click link below)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/65629150@N06/sets/72157627904681345/

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God, Ours & Theirs!

“God has no religion.”…  Mahatma Gandhi.

No need to introduce the man who has said above words as some people are above any introduction so is Mahatma Gandhi, not just for our country but for entire world! And why I remember his above words because of an incidence with me! Every morning I get down for going to game of badminton I have a habit or say ritual to pluck a red flower from many flowering plants in the premise of our apartment & put it on small statue of Lord Ganpati in my car. I feel nice in doing so & now over the years it has become a habit! Just for assured supply of red flowers I have specially planted jaswand red flower plants in the premise of our building & they are ever blossoming i.e. all around the year! but last few days whenever I get down in morning for my game there is not a single flower on any of the plants & for first few days I thought the constant rains must have been an obstacle in blossoming but even when rains have stopped yet I could see no flowers!! I inquired with the watchman at gate, what happened to flowers? On this he said, there has been a new family recently moved in the building & one elderly lady from that family takes away all the flowers from the plants very early in morning every day. On this I said to watchman, ask that lady to keep at least few flowers for others!! but again when I got down in morning I saw no flowers on plants, fuming with irritation I took name & flat number of that family & decided to give them a call & teach them a lesson in my builder way!! at noon on dining table when I was sharing this with my son & my plans about blasting that family for keeping no flowers for others (means myself), he listened to my version & innocently said, *baba, jaudya na, pan kontyatari dewala miltatach na ti fula* i.e. dad why bother let it go as some god is anyway getting those flowers, isn’t it? it took a minute for me to sink in that sentence & then meaning hit me hard as what a fool I was even at age of fifty with all my philosophy & reading, I havent yet understood the god!! Indeed if not the Ganpati statue in my car but the Ganpati in that home is getting those flowers & here I am selfishly thinking about my god not getting flowers! 

And then as our dear Pune is famous (read infamous) for controversies there was one such about Satyanarayan Pooja (can't translate it in English) i.e. a ritual as per Hindu dharma. Now again problem with Hindu Dharma is it has so many sub branches that wonder whom we now call Hindus & whom not! Anyways it’s a form of prayer in which a story has been read by Brahmins (well any one can read it) & flowers as well delicacies are offered to the god popularly known as Lord Satynarayana!  In month of Shrawan (an auspicious month by Hindu calendar) this pooja is done in many Hindu homes as well establishment & so it was supposed to be carried in one of heritage educational institute in Pune. Some students associations opposed it as its religious thing & their say was let religion be kept away from educational institutes. Indeed a noble thought though by me has been put forward in wrong way & as usual the city social life (political too) was abuzz with all sorts of comments in favor & opposing the satyanarayan pooja.  By me any religious display on public place should be ban, it’s high time especially when our way of worshipping religion is becoming a nuisance to the others! We have already enough problems on roads, noise pollution, air pollution, traffic jams & what not, so why we have to bother common man with our love for god is what common citizen thinks but can’t dare to put forward his or her opinions as we know what’s outcome of expressing such opinions! Actually unfortunate part is with legacy of thousands of years on the front of philosophy it’s unfortunate that we haven’t understood the concept of god itself!

Well, if you are (I am sure you are) confused about the direction in which my sharing is going, sorry for going bit off-track, no it wasn’t god or religion I wanted to share my views but it’s about India’s performance in Asian Games held in Jakarta , Indonesia! With more that fifteen gold medals & numbers of silver & bronze this was our second best performance in Asian games, the best was in 1955 but then the competition from our neighbors like China & Chinese Taipei wasn’t so tough! Still nonetheless we the Indians are best in criticizing things & more promptly when those things are outcome of our very own people & high time we break this tradition as criticism is required but overdose of it kills the positive aspect of communication is fact! So, not just well done but superbly done Indian Asian Games squad for your performance in Asian games! Because you all have done proud to our country & most important is you have given us a new hope in the form of new heroes (read gods) like Hima Das, Tajindarpal Toor, Jinson Jonson, Dattu Bhoknal, Amit Pangal, Phogat & many such to the millions of countryman’s, which or else only knew the eleven gods! Yes I am referring to the Indian Cricket Team members who are considered as gods, may it be Dhoni or Kohali today, Dravid & Tendulakar in last decade & Kapil Dev & Gavaskar before that! What an irony that with our mythology has nearly 330 million gods to worship yet we choose just eleven! With due respect to all cricket lovers enough has been spoken about the popularity as well money the game of cricket (read cricketers) gets & indeed they have won world cup twice for us as well many big tournaments yet just eight or ten odd countries plays this game where we are number one in one format! While athletics, swimming, boxing, shooting, wrestling & many such games are played more than fifty countries & do mind, China, Japan, Korea ( I am referring to Asian continent only) doesn’t plays cricket but all above mentioned games & now you can imagine the competition all these players from our country has to face! And if you read the success stories of Asian medal winners then most of them has come from poor families or middle class families from all parts of the countries & has been deprived even very basic infra like good shoes or equipments to train in the respective games! Agreed of late our govt has done a lot better job than earlier ones for providing infrastructure for game other than cricket as appointing a silver medalist in Olympics on the post of Sports Minister in itself is a great step; yet look at the money & facilities the game of cricket enjoys & then you will appreciate these lesser god’s success in Asian games a lot more! No wonder many of these athletes have spoken about the under par facilities they had only after performing as first they won the medal & then they commented on the lacunas in the system. A girl shooter from Delhi who won bronze medal has said about the prize declared, “had this prize money been given before winning the medal, we could have got gold’! I think this one reaction says all about the sentiments of the players! Hope at least now our govt takes cognizance & does the needful for the athletes on their respective infrastructure. By the way just look at the numbers of medals china which is at number one in tally has got & you will realize how much high we have to climb yet ahead on many fronts! We have got fifteen gold medals where as China has got one thirty two gold medals! Do I need to say anything more about the scope for improving our performance in Asian games?

But then it’s not govt I am worried about I am more concerned about the public of this country which is busy over making fuss over our gods & way we warship them for e.g. Satynaryan pooja or Namaz or Chhat pooja & many such. Has anybody asked Jinson Jonson or Hima Daas or Toor, what god they worshipped or what caste they are from or does they perform Satyanaryana pooja or which Church or Masjid or Temple these players goes for praying? Well, they might be worshipping their respective gods at their home but more than that all these players worship just one god which is nothing great but a piece of tri-color cloth i.e. our national flag! It’s said that if your worship your god with hundred percent devotion then he fulfills your every wish, well, these players worshipped tri-color with only one wish, a medal for their country & they got the medal fighting against all odds! I think all those our country men who are proud of their respective colors of religion may it be green or blue or saffron, high time to know your true religion & identify our god as then only we will understand real meaning of god! As what is god but a creation which we only have created by worshipping it with our devotion & imagine the country if we all put our devotion in one god (read national flag) & make the players as well personalities who are already devoted themselves to this god as god’s reflection! Then every wish of every citizen will come true or else one day all that will remain is hatred for each other’s gods & the demons carrying that hatred but the god will be long gone by!

Well even the country like America has also not different than us when it comes to discriminating humans; there it may not be religion but color!  Recently one more sports related issue made headlines which is an advertise by sporting goods making giant i.e. Nike. (Crazy dream advertise, you can type this in search window of U tube & watch by yourself)...

I wrote something to my sons, nephews & nieces, after watching the said ad, sharing here to conclude. By me, sports are in a way our reflection of normal life we live. The way somebody plays any game, shows his or her attitude towards the life & for that single reason everybody should play some game or other once in life span!...

“Dada, chota, bhikya, rohit, ketki & shruti… I will be fifty soon yet even today when I watch such ad it brings tears of excitement in my eyes, my heart beats faster & I can feel rush of adrenaline  in my blood vessels & I think that’s success of the ad as well make me feel good about myself as yet there is very much life in me!! It makes you feel again to dream, not to give them up & makes you determined to achieve what you have dreamt! Mind one thing 99 out of 100 people dreams about something or other but only 5 out of that 99 has the will-power  to make those dreams a reality!! It’s said that, "what you dream is what makes you", I differ as its "what you make of your dreams is what makes you" is more correct version by me! As what’s the use of dreaming a dream which get vanished as soon you are out of your bed! The best part of ad is it says don’t worry whether your dream is crazy but ask whether it’s crazy enough! As do mind fun is always making people amazed by making something reality when they think it’s impossible to do & for that you have to compete with yourself only!! And it’s not easy as how can you beat your own self, well that’s the difference which will make you special from others!! So go ahead & dream & make your dream a reality; don’t just stop getting awe at Nike ad but live it by yourself as that’s one sure way to worship your god!”  ... Baba

Sanjay Deshpande 

Sanjeevani Dev.

Please view my sharing about real estate in Pune at U-Tube link below..

https://youtu.be/g3lx1Nq7pBs

Please do visit my blogs to know about our philosophy at Sanjeevani ! (Click the links below)

http://visonoflife.blogspot.com/2018/08/pune-city-no-1.html

http://jivnachadrushtikon.blogspot.in/

Social Side of Sanjeevani ! (Click link below)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/65629150@N06/sets/72157627904681345/

For any of your complaints about city, log in at link below

www.punecorporation.org

Take your issues to Hon PM at link below..

https://secure.mygov.in/#

Think Green, Think Life

www.sanjeevanideve.com