Banks, Bankers & Builders!

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“Banks do not create money for the public good. They are businesses owned by private shareholders. Their purpose is to make a profit.” …  John Rogers

“I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies.” …  Thomas Jefferson

 

John A. Rogers is a physical chemist and a materials scientist. He is currently Professor of Materials Science and Engineering, Biomedical Engineering, and Neurological Surgery at Northwestern University. And Mr. Thomas Jefferson was an American statesman, diplomat, lawyer, architect, philosopher, and Founding Father who served as the third president of the United States from 1801 to 1809. No wonder the opinion of Mr Rogers about banks matches with mine because going by his background he is well educated & trying to earn money by using his academia! But no wonder it’s Mr. Jefferson who is a successful politician (being President of the United States for two consecutive terms is a proof) understood perfectly the banks or say the banking system & described the same in his words!  It’s when my family friend Mr Kakirde who himself is a financial column writer called me & asked about what are my issues regarding banks in the real estate, my brain started (even after spending 30 years in real estate some part of brain is still alive, thanks to such questions asked) thinking about banks & my business i.e., real estate & surprisingly except problems, I couldn’t think of much! Sorry if I have hurt feelings of my bankers friends (yes, a banker also can be a friend too, sarcasm) by my such statement but take it like a dialogue in Deewar, “jubtak ek bhai boal raha hai, ek bhai sunega par jub ek murim bolega tub ek puliswala sunega”; please take it as experiences of an engineer builder who doesn’t have much knowledge of finance & try to understand it as per logic that too common man’s logic! Unfortunately, in this country (I don’t have experience of doing business in other countries) when its doing business then usually logic doesn’t work & banks are also no exception to this Law of Businesses (a self-derived term, lol)!

Coming back to our subject of sharing, this is what my friend wrote to me, “Dear Sanjay, I would like to know from you, important pointers while writing one article.” 

1. What is the present status of the construction industry?

How is it doing? What are its difficulties? problems

2. What are the issues involved in finance

 by banks?

Or any other points you would like to mention in the

my article.

 

On the WhatsApp, I replied in short, whatever came to my mind from my various confrontations with banks (read as encounters) but the writer in me got stirred up & I thought why not explore this aspect a bit in detail & use it to make my fellow professionals as well other personalities in the society know about the facts of bank’s role in the real estate? Either they will read & think I am exaggerating or they will guide me if I have wrongly analysed the scene, so here we are in pointer form so I should not miss any aspect…

1.   Consider real estate as an industry… This was my first point as even after spending thirty years in real estate, I have realized this one thing that no bank, (here after read as nationalized bank) considers the real estate as an industry but they think (or behave) it’s a business or profession such as trading in share market or a gamble, in frank words! And the banks do want their cut from the huge profits out of this gamble (business) but they don’t want to be part of the risk, is the problem. That’s why real estate developers unless they know someone in the bank are never ever favoured by the banks. Indeed, for this the behaviour of the builders in the past also has been a reason but then time changes & so do the nature of the business & the people in it, right? High time for the banks to recognize real estate as an industry & deal with it accordingly.

2. Make special provisions for funding for the affordable homes category where the unit price is less than Rs 50 lakhs at a lesser interest rate... More the risk, the more the profits, a basic law of nature & investments & adhering to this law which is applicable to the investments, the banks have set maximum interest rates for funding to the entire real estate industry. But where risk is less & so are the margins, especially affordable homes’ segment in cities like Pune where demand is more but rates are low for such housing, in such times the banks should have a funding provision as well lower rates of interest which is not the case.

3. Increase the repayment period, long term as at present it’s up to project completion and scene is most projects get sold ready possession... The best reason, the banks haven’t identified real estate as an industry is they haven’t studied the change in the pattern of this industry, especially on mass housing or trading trends of homes! With No GST on ready possession homes (one more prank on real estate by govt) & rates of the flats not increasing as fast as they used to earlier, more & more home buyers are opting for ready possession homes. This means if a builder has taken loan for a project he can repay it only after completion of the project by selling ready possession units which do takes time which can be two to three years after completion of the project, But most project finance repayments starts immediately after the completion of project or some specific period which is very less, making the developer impossible to repay in time as already he has exhausted all his funds for completing the project & when banks have mortgaged even the ready possession units why can’t the repayment period be increased for real estate?

4. Include land cost in project finance as anyways the bank mortgages land also even of its loan for construction… This is the biggest joke in financing real estate (read as normal small or medium builders) as in present times where land cost governs the entire viability of a project, how can project finance for a real estate project not include land cost in it! But that’s a fact as while financing a real estate project only the construction cost is taken as subject of the finance & that doesn’t fulfill the purpose at all because nowadays it’s the land cost which is a major factor & has to be paid upfront especially in small or midsize projects. So, if a builder has to generate nearly 70% of project cost in the form of the land along with 20% of construction cost as his contribution, all the bank is ready to pay is approx. 20% of the project cost, what kind of banking support is this for the real estate, is I want to ask!

5. Take out collateral security norms as that makes it impossible to get project finance… If the joke (cruelty, actually) of not considering land cost in project finance is not enough then here is some more when asking for a loan from the banks for the real estate & that is collateral security! The banks (as well even private financers) ask to mortgage ready possession clear title free of any encumbrance property worth of loan asked for as collateral, again this is for small & middle segment builders. Well, if I have ready to sell property stock, worth of loan amount, why would I ask for loan & then the bank keeps charge on both properties means blocking my two projects, super, any comment?

6. Make housing a priority sector... And on top of all these one-way norms the standard answer or reply from the banks is, “we would have loved to finance your project but at present real estate is in the list of non-priority segment as per Reserve Bank’s guidelines, s, we are sorry, we can’t consider your proposal!” And the joke is these very banks are running behind the flat purchasers for home finance at lowest interest rates but are not lending to the makers of those homes!

7. One window or table loan system instead of a developer running all around for documentation… As usual all banks say they are loan friendly & blah blah blah but when you actually go for a loan then you have to run from table to table & each table (read as signatory or authority) has his or her whims & demands documents which are not just illogical but takes too much of time! Subsequently making you surrender to a Finance Consultant named entity, which needless to say keeps its own cut, making the loan costlier to you in the end! There has to be one window system actually in place (a dream) for real estate as this industry is key to the dreams of millions of owning a home, right?

8. Get construction work progress monitoring system in place… And if at all you are lucky to get project finance then its disbursement as well as accounting is one more tedious process as in the world of google maps & drones, why do you need repeated documentation of various certificates in print form & inward outward system? Why can’t the banks have a system in place to visit the site progress periodically & keep visual data stored by itself & charge the client a little extra for the same, is the question I want to ask the banks.

 

Well, I got exhausted (read as frustrated) even writing the issues about banking, imagine what would have been the condition of a builder who is fighting day in & out for his loan proposal with the banks! Sad part is the real estate industry which is one of the biggest by turnover, revenue & maker of a product which is one of the basic needs of living, for that also if the banks are so ignorant or unsupportive then do mind, it's not just the builders but entire system which is actually responsible to make the homes costlier! As when a builder doesn’t get finance from a proper banking system, then the only option for him is to bend the knee in front of private loan sharks at high interest rates & if he is lucky enough then be able to complete the project or become a bank-corrupt! Now I understand the term bank-corrupt, as it's actually the banks which are the main reason for making someone (read as a builder) to become so, lol!

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Sanjay Deshpande 

Sanjeevani Dev.

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

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g4xX7eopH5o&t=5s

 

Please do visit my blog links below to read about real estate & home buying! 

https://visonoflife.blogspot.com/2021/09/choosing-right-home.html

http://jivnachadrushtikon.blogspot.com/2021/09/blog-post_21.html

Creating Togetherness; team Sanjeevani Way (Click link below) 

https://www.flickr.com/photos/65629150@N06/albums/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

Encroachment Drive , Citizens & the City!

 

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“A nation of sheep will beget a government of wolves.” … Edward R. Murrow

“A government strong enough to give you everything you want is a government strong enough to take from you everything you have.” …  Gerald R. Ford

Edward Roscoe Murrow was an American broadcast journalist and war correspondent. He first gained prominence during World War II with a series of live radio broadcasts from Europe for the news division of CBS. If Murrow was a media guy, then Gerald Rudolph Ford Jr. was an American, the 38th president of the United States from 1974 to 1977. He also has served as the leader of the Republican Party in the House of Representatives, and as the 40th vice president of the United States from 1973 to 1974. What I like about the USA is whatever they act in actual leaving that aside, the media & personalities in power speak the same language especially when it’s about governance or democracy & above two quotes are the best example of this attitude of their society!

Ok, the reason for naming (please don’t read as shaming) “Mai Bapp” Govt is recent encroachment drive undertaken by PMC & PCMC that public civic bodies (read as whole & sole) of our Pune & Pimpri Chinchwad cities. Suddenly, with no local body in existence i.e., as per the constitution the five years limit of elected members has been over on March 22, both in PMC & PCMC & that means the ruler is now the administration & not our elected members (read as Mananiya). And on this background the administration has taken a massive drive against demolishing illegal structures & more importantly commercial establishments such as hotels, malls, shops, Marriage Halls as well lawns & such! Well, most (Read as common man) will say what’s big deal in it, wasn’t it required since long & it is a good thing for the city that the roads & footpaths & public places will be free from all the illegal structures & more space will be available for the citizens which they deserve! Indeed, no two minds about the need for such act of demolishing illegal structures can be there as an individual & a developer (it’s a fact) by myself I won’t ever support encroachments or illegality but…!  Its this “but” is always a problem & I know most readers will say, no wonder a builder will always be in the support of the buildings or structures, legal or illegal! I defer, my but is not to speak against the action of govt (pmc/ pcmc) on the illegal structure or the severity of it, my point is about the timing & the scale applied to this action!

I reside in central Pune on a 100 ft wide road where many hotels are aligned along with marriage halls/ lawns as well there are some small shops, garages as well food joints too on one side of the road which is a green belt & comes in blue line (or red line, what difference it makes any way). Ok, before you start reading further, a recap (read as explanation), the illegal structures are the built-up structures in any form, permanent or in temporary form such as shade, pandol (mandaw) or any such thing which is not part of the official sanction of the said building or the structure! As well, the blue line of the river is a flood control line marked along both banks of the river & beyond that line no structure is permitted in any form. Now you will understand the nature of the encroachment removal action PMC is conducting all in & around Pune city. Indeed, we all know most commercial establishments needs space as the business grow & its not always possible to expand the available space by completing legal norms & I am not saying the norms are wrong yet the fact remains that such businesses to accommodate their increased turnover try to utilize every sq. ft of the space around them & this is where the conflict occurs between the system (read as govt) & the users!

So, such illegal structures’ removal (read as demolition) with the use of every available machinery like JCBs’, Gas Cutters etc is being done by PMC & is talk of the town. It is a must thing as or else there won’t be respect for the laws in the minds of the common man is what I too believe like other sane citizens but! My point is, on the background of Covid hit last two years, where most businesses have suffered heavy financial losses & are just starting to come on the normal track of working, such kind of demolishing action is the final blow, especially the small-scale vendors & eateries types trades! I repeat I am not justifying illegality nor encroachment; all I am putting forward is the way things are being conducted in such actions by the govt! At the same time please see that in most small establishments the actual place or joint runner is a tenant who hasn't built illegal structures or encroached on the supposedly mandatory open spaces. All the tenant users have done is agree up on the place shown to him & do all necessary furniture, fill the raw material which takes away his major investment. And when PMC takes action on such places the maximum damage is caused to the furniture as well stock of stored materials making the end user victim while the original landlord gets away with not much damage. Outcome is, the suffering tenant traders move out of the premises due to losses incurred, the landlord finds new tenants & encroachment continues, this is my point!

At the same time why there is two mouthed approach by the govt about illegal structures, is the question I want to ask openly to every person in the society (as well as a builder too), as if this anti-encroachment drive is against the commercial establishments which are generating some employment & trade (is positive side if illegality is negative side) then the very govt turns a blind eye towards every illegal housing development which includes slums as well illegal buildings, plotting & list is on! Fact is, here the very same govt has been supporting to the illegalities by regularizing all such illegal structures which has been built not only by encroaching public places but have been built without any sanction or breaking safety norms & causing direct threat to the lives of million of residents of such buildings & loss of revenue! Rather the govt has submitted affidavits in the High Court in many matters not to demolish the illegal residential structures on the grounds of humanitarian approach for the residents & claiming its no fault of theirs as a home is the basic need of the life! Well, if it is so then earning for that life, how it can be a wrong cause that the govt give no time limit or considers nothing for the livelihood of people running such places, though may it be in the illegal way or encroached premise, is my point!

Basically, no law or sane man can sympathize or support any kind of illegality but the important aspect we are forgetting is later part of the sentence i.e., any kind of illegality! How can you demolish one structure, naming it as illegal while trying to regularize neighbouring structures just because its use is different, is what I wanted to put forward! Because this means, if you are building a hospital or a school (there are actually) then with the present logic of the govt about the illegal structures, you won’t have to take any permission or sanction & you can build it right in the middle of river bed (just example) or on the hill & eventually it will get legalized as your purpose is noble, right? Now coming to the second aspect of the illegal structures, there is age old (and famous) dialogue in our Bollywood Industry, “Koibhi Insan paida gunehagar nahi hota, halat use jurm karnepe majboor kar dete hai” i.e., nobody is a born criminal (read as law breaker) but it’s the situations which makes a person to become a criminal! Well, I differ as I have seen many born criminals (or with criminal minds) but logic here is the laws & system & the masses (read as society) all combinedly are responsible for the encroachments & illegality! If you are wondering how a customer going to some hotel or lawn is responsible for the illegal structure that establishment (or the landlord) has built then how you can ask the tenant responsible for the same, is the question I will ask. As when I have raised the point of damage suffered by traders who are tenants actually, then many “jagruk nagrik” commented, the tenants must check the legality of the premise before starting a food joint at such a place! Pont taken but then what about the people who eat food at such joints by parking their vehicles on roads or under No Parking boards? At the same time if illegal lawns or marriage halls are there, what about families booking their events at such places, are they too not part of this illegality? Ok, even what about the entire Pune city’s residents who buy hundreds of household things such as vegetables from the hawkers or traders which occupy the footpaths, are we all not guilty of the illegality or encroachments? I know, most will think I am diverting the subject, unfortunately I am not, fact is we all are so much used to illegality that all we need is one scapegoat to shrug away our sins, which we get through such sudden action of anti-encroachment drive & we think we are law abiding just by blindly supporting these drives, is my point!

And lastly, the urban planning policies of our govt which are the main reason for illegal structure, right from impossible parking provision norms to poor public transport to making No Development Zone in the areas like green belt or hill slopes right in city area we are in a way pushing people for illegal structures, is a fact. As, how a person can hold a piece of land if you neither allow him to develop it nor maintain it, as green belts are classic examples for our wrong urban policies. Instead declare these zones as reservations & acquire these lands by paying their market price, which PMC can’t do, saying, No Budget! So, the easier option is making the land a No Development zone & keep demolishing structures on it, if the owner tries to use these lands in any possible way! And on top of it, what the said system was doing when the first illegal structure was built, which nobody asks the said system, right? I repeat, I am not against keeping green zones or making hills green or any such development which is in the benefit of the entire city but take one look around us & tell me what you see & then take action accordingly, is my point!

I knew one middle class boy who has recently started a food joint in my neighbourhood & in this anti-encroachment drive his entire establishment has been crushed with JCB to debris along with his all investments. Now the only option with that boy is, to commit suicide or become a criminal, & who is responsible for that boy’s such fate, is the question I am unable to answer, let me know if you have any answer, is my point, that’s all!

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Sanjay Deshpande 

Sanjeevani Dev.

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

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g4xX7eopH5o&t=5s

 

Please do visit my blog links below to read about real estate & home buying! 

https://visonoflife.blogspot.com/2021/09/choosing-right-home.html

http://jivnachadrushtikon.blogspot.com/2021/09/blog-post_21.html

Creating Togetherness; team Sanjeevani Way (Click link below) 

https://www.flickr.com/photos/65629150@N06/albums/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

Ready Reckoner Rates, Stamp Duty & Dream of Owning a Home!

 

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“I'm not a fan of April Fools' Day. I can take a joke; I just don't want to BE the joke.” …  Stewart Stafford

 

Stewart Stafford is an actor, known for movies such as The Escapist, Innocent and Assassins. More than that he is a writer also & above quote surely is the creation of the writer Stewart & the wittiness must have come from the Irish genes he carries from his parents! While growing up most of us have been on the wrong side of the April Fool’s prank & irony of the profession is if you are in real estate then even while you have grown up, you still end up on the wrong side of the April Fool’s Day & this 1st of April 22 wasn’t exception to the rule! Well, you must be wondering what my sharing is about as we have enough foolishness around that I should take fools as my subject, right? Agreed, the real estate is full of fools on every front so, no need to name April Fool’s Day for it but this particular day has very much significance to the real estate business wise as on this date the new financial year starts & so starts the application of new ready reckoner rates as well new stamp duty related policies comes in rule & obviously the creator of all these pranks (sorry read as policies) is, none other than “Mai Baap” State govt! And the fooled ones are, everybody related to real estate in every aspect including the “aam aadmi” which is the end buyer of the homes! Only change is, on this 1st April even the prank maker (read as govt) also got fooled making the April Fool’s Day very special!

Sarcasm & full of it, as when you get April fooled that’s how one can react, right?  Now, for the lucky ones who don't know what is stamp duty & ready reckoner rates are, then only I can share what’s it’s relation with real estate & how we get fooled with these two terminologies as well how the govt also got fooled this year.  Stamp-duty is a fee charged by the State Govt on ever legal (read carefully) in a certain percentage of the amount of the deal & at a certain rate, over every deal any two parties enter in for an immovable property which in most of the cases is, a land or a built-up structure which we call a home or a shop or an office or an industry etc. And the certain rate per sft which is considered as base for every such deal of that property is call as ready reckoner rate & both this factors i.e., stamp duty percentage figure as well ready reckoner rates which are per sft of the built-up area or open plot are of the property keeps updated (read as increased) every financial year which starts on 1^st April. Now, you will understand the significance of this day for real estate & let’s see how it affects the industry (is it industry in the first place is another aspect? sarcasm dosage) because as of now everything related to real estate has been linked with these two factors affecting economics of every deal. And needless to say, the govt on the background of deficits courtesy of the last two covid hit years on various fronts of the revenue, wants to cover the losses it has incurred via real estate! (who else, again sarcasm).

Well, if govt increases ready reckoner rate on 1^st April & adds something in stamp duty factor like 1% seas for Metro (or anything, does it matter) in the basic 6% then on this 1^stApril the govt got shocked by the scam by its own people (sarkari babus) working in registration dept for registering illegal documents (deals) & that too thousands of it, thus making the govt itself fool! Will share about it later, let’s see this year’s April Fool Day’s impact on the real estate by stamp duty & registration first as we all know real estate wasn’t doing great even before covid & during covid but somehow the last years amnesty scheme or say promotion scheme of just 3% stamp duty has made a big positive impact on the mindsets of the home buyers. And the govt must realize it’s the larger turnover which a successful businessman looks at & not just the big margins of the profit as big margins evaporate very soon (who else but real estate knows this) but the turnover is a healthy sign of a business. Unfortunately, govt hasn’t read the story of golden egg laying hen in Isapniti & feel more stamp duty % means more revenue which isn’t the case. Again, to explain in simple lay-man’s words (like me), if you buy a flat of Rs 1 crore (sochane me kya jata hai!) then as per last year’s promotion scheme you will have to pay stap duty 3% i.e., Rs 3 lakh & now today its 6% plus 1% additional for Pune as we are privileged with Metro (though it will yet take at least three years more to come in full functioning as per me) so we have to pay 1% more stamp duty for any property deal we enter in & around Pune as well PCMC & PMRDA. This in simple words means you end up paying in total Rs 7 lakhs for Rs 1 crore flat or property as per govt which has come in ruling on 1^st April, which is more by Rs 4 lakhs than last year’s scheme! So, the homes or any property deal has become costlier by strait 4% is the outcome.

Then comes the next aspect of this year’s April Fool which is ready reckoner rates & if stamp duty is a burden for home buyer or land buyer then ready reckoner rate’s increase is like rubbing salt on the wounds made by stamp duty dagger! If you think I am exaggerating then let me clarify, every single rupee you pay to any govt or local body (PMC/PCMC) in the form of premium for plan sanctions is directly linked to ready reckoner rates of the land of the respective project. Means the TDR you buy, the fire premiums you pay, the development charges, in case you get a land at cheaper rate then also if the ready reckoner rate of said land is higher as per the rules, then you have to pay stamp duty as per higher rate & the list is unending. Ok, to clarify more about ready reckoner rates, it means govt decides rate per sft of every property, built form or vacant land in the State & fix it for all calculations such as above mentioned. So, these rates have been kept unchanged due to Covid last two years & this year they have been increased by nearly &% to 8% at many locations in Pune. This means you end up paying 8% more premiums on every sq ft area you build, is the outcome!

Now, most people will say, what’s your problem, are you going to pay all these increased stamp duty as well as ready reckoner rate hike charges from your pocket? (read as the builders) As surely you (read as builders) will be recovering these all-added expenses from your flat buyers only, so why are you complaining? Well, the answer or logic of the answer is the same, while there is an extreme hike in fuel prices why the transporters or even rickshawalas protests, are they not going to cover the same from their customers? They are, but a wise businessman knows that any hike in making cost of any product is going to reflect on the price of the end product, making it costlier & creating a burden on the pocket of the end-buyer which in the case of real estate is a genuine needy home buyer! And for such a buyer who is already burdened with so many fronts’ price hikes (petrol to school fees of kids to electricity bills) that the costliest product like a home, however he needs it just goes beyond his buying limits which is the worst thing that can happen to the real estate, is the problem! And this rate hike was not logical or depending on some external dependency like oil prices but self-created is the problem! Agreed govt doesn’t & can’t create land but it does create virtual land i.e., TDR or paid FSI & for that also govt is adding burden by increasing stamp duty & ready reckoner rates which can be avoided without damaging the revenues. I know that the govt too needs revenue to keep it going as all the development as well social works are done through revenues from the stamp-duty collections. But high time to think about policies like free electricity bill or loan waivers at large for a particular spectrum at the cost of a particular industry, is my complaint! Here, the govt must think about turnover Vs big margin aspects before increasing ready reckoner rates or adding sess on stamp duty thus making the homes costly, is the complaint!

By the way, the keen readers must be wondering how the govt itself got fooled this 1st April as I have mentioned it, on this April a scam came in to the light where the property deals which are supposedly illegal means they were not be registered, have been registered with the support of Registrar’s Officers only! In shudhha marathi “Kumpanannich Shet Khalle” i.e., the protectors themselves become hunters here. This way the govt has earned money on stamp duty but the basic deal was illegal, means the buildings have been built without any permission or paying premiums as well the land pieces have been divided & sold without any sanction layout done & yet it’s been registered! High time for the govt (read as entire system) why this need arises as fact is if you take a legal path for building a small home or buy a small plot, is so tedious that many people chose path of illegality & outcome is entire system gets corrupt, which has happened with the registrar & stamps office! Unfortunate is, the people who are real culprits (though some by force) & has sold such flats or plots have been through or have got away with all the money but those who has bought all such homes or plots, are at worst loss of their life as whatever they have paid for such deals has now gone to drain! And how can they be at fault as its like you have purchased an I-Phone from the official I-Phone store by paying full up front with receipt & now police comes after you, seize your I-Phone, saying it’s of theft, “ye baat kkuchhh hajam nahi hui”! But that’s how the system here is, which we must change, is the complaint!

Well, the problem of real estate is, the industry which gives shelter to millions of people, itself doesn’t have a real shelter when it comes to protecting interests of the industry even logically; till that time, enjoy celebrating April Fool’s Day, is all we can do!

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Sanjay Deshpande 

Sanjeevani Dev.

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

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g4xX7eopH5o&t=5s

 

Please do visit my blog links below to read about real estate & home buying! 

https://visonoflife.blogspot.com/2021/09/choosing-right-home.html

http://jivnachadrushtikon.blogspot.com/2021/09/blog-post_21.html

Creating Togetherness; team Sanjeevani Way (Click link below) 

https://www.flickr.com/photos/65629150@N06/albums/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

Saving the Grasslands & Short Eared Owl !

 

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“Forests should not be just walked on; they should be lived on.” …  Courtney M. Privett

Indeed, what Ms Courtney has said about forests is so perfect as I myself have lived through the forests so many times, rather every moment I have spent in the forests, I have learnt not just to see or listen or inhale the forests but become one with them! As then it doesn’t matter what animal or bird you get to see or how rare the species is but all you have to do is admire the moment & thanks to Almighty for making you lucky to live in these forests around you! Well, if you think I have started to become a bit more philosophic or emotional (or some may say dramatic) then can’t help is as that’s what forests has their enchanting effect on me & of late it’s the grasslands which every time, I am reinventing their wonder or hidden treasures! But then life is living in reality & most of the times reality are bitter to swallow & so is the reality with forests. While enjoying the forests by becoming them, if on one side you enjoy the beauty & serenity of these greens (yellow & grey in case of the grasslands) then on the other side you start feeling the pain of destruction & death also! And no wonder the reason is not nature but we humans especially when it brings pain & death to the forests. At the same time if many humans are the enemies of the forests for any reason {as some reasons may be genuine) then there are few humans who are part of the forests & are friends with them & its solely up to you, which side of the humans you want to join, when it comes about being enemy or the friends of the forests!

Needless to say, no human being will openly accept or choose to become an enemy of the forests (there are few such though) but just saying I am friend of forests & doing nothing doesn’t make you a real friend, right? For example, you don’t know swimming & accidently you fall down in a well, the first thing you will do is start yelling for help that somebody should take you out of the water & then you see a guy up on the ground above & he is your friend or you think so! You call his name, the guy responds & waves at you but takes no effort to pull you out of the well, will you still call him your friend? Same is the way with many so-called friends when its efforts to help the forests to survive, which in my present case is the grasslands, which are wonderful, many humans visit them & admire their beauty, some even gets benefit also from them but nobody does anything to help the grasslands to survive because one they are not friends with the forests & second, they don’t live the forests but just visits, so they don’t understand the pains grasslands are suffering from us!

The reason for getting back to the grasslands was, recently one of my friends, Hemangi, who runs Jungle Belles which is wildlife awareness organization for urban women, has been to the grasslands in eastern outskirts of Pune & she sighted a short-eared owl there & told me about it. I am not a “birder” (its an in thing in the wild lifers) in true term as I don’t go to a place just to see the birds, click their snaps as well can identify them but I like to be part of any wildlife activity or visiting such habitats (except those in the super cold regions). So, the next day alone I went to those grasslands with a local named Amol Kale, a young man who is passionate about the grasslands & work as full-time guide as well tour operator in these areas. Its youngsters like Amol, the hope for the wildlife or the habitats is alive, especially the patches around urban settlements like Pune & many such cities are alive. As Amol not only earns his livelihood by showing the people the beauty of grasslands but study those grasslands in his free time as well try his best to protect these habitats along with the animals found here!

Ok, something about the cause of this trip to the grasslands & then will explain the importance of the role Amol plays here in conservation of grasslands.

The short-eared owl is one of the few species of owl known to migrate, it travels long distances including, reportedly, over vast expanses of ocean. Female is bigger than male like all raptors & interesting thing is that they nest on the ground, at the base of thorny trees like babul in the grassland. Wonder that the bird migrates from extreme cold regions of Europe & yet can survive the arid dry & hot surroundings of grasslands like LRK or at present eastern outskirt grasslands of Pune!

Well, I didn’t know all this info but Amol shared it with me as for me short eared owls are just one category in the species named owls & cute & rare to be seen, so when hemangi told me about it, I went to see it with Amol. To my surprise the pair of these owls was living on a vast stretch of seemingly barren land deserted by most though not all humans. Because there were activities I saw, a pond of horribly smelling black liquid right where the owls were nesting & Amol told its Molasses (Mali) which is a toxic waste from a nearby sugar factory. Also, I saw dumpers (trucks) spreading dust & smoke crisscrossing these lands for carrying murrum excavated from a nearby stone mine. All these are too much disturbance for the owls but the authorities (read as forest dept) will fine Amol & his likes for disturbing the owls, if at all they come to know these are nesting grounds for the owls, this is the irony of our system! Amol told me that when he visited LRK i.e., Lower Rann of Kutch, where he first saw short eared owl, he come to know from the guides there about its habitats as well characteristics such as nesting at the base of thorny bushes in the dry grasslands. This is how he started roaming around such vast lands where he stays in the eastern outskirts of Pune & in one such search, he was able to locate the bird here! No offense to forest dept friends of mine, but don’t you think instead of keeping one or two Honorary WildLife Wardens at only district level, we can create a cadre of such honorary wildlife wardens at all such habitats & allow them some earning also out of such a job? As problem which Amol shared with me was when he objects any illegal hunting or disturbance to these habitats as he doesn’t have any authority, he either gets hooted out by such people or when they come to know that he earns some money by showing these grasslands to the tourists then he gets extortion demands also!

Need of the time is to build a strong team of youngsters like Amol & make them able to survive for their living as well help in conservation of these habitats. Another aspect is to try using the potential of such spots commercially also & I know many so called nature lover’s will frown or raise their eyebrows over this suggestion but if we want to save the grasslands of other such habitats then we must think in a radical way. Because the only threat to the grasslands is by the humans around & if we make them know the grasslands can actually help them to make some money then these people will only protect them, is a simple logic & a fact too! Like the govt supports building an industry in some remote rural locality to make the livelihood better of the people in that locality by offering free land, rebate in taxes or cheaper electricity & water for the industry at such a location. On the same lines, why can’t we think of nature therapy or a luxury resort at such a location which will make more tourists come here as well a good earning way to the locals like Amol, think over guys! These resorts can fetch tourists from all across the country, not just nearby cities, and imagine a night out in open grassland with clear star-lit sky above & in the distance you hear howling of a wolf, wouldn’t it be the best times of your life, I bet, it will be for sure!

That’s why the grasslands may be the subject of my sharing on face but this is the story of every piece of nature around us in all the forms which we call as forests or the habitats & it is story of every Amol Kale too, fighting for making these forests survive; lets join hands to support them as then only we can call ourselves wild-lifer!!

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Sanjay Deshpande 

Sanjeevani Dev.

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