“Earth provides enough to satisfy every man's needs, but not every man's greed.” … Mahatma Gandhi
No need to introduce this name to any Indian as he is indeed father of our nation & that’s not just because he gave us freedom but for the philosophy he lived with & words of wisdom he left back to guide us! Though the problem is we are hypocrites when it comes to worship the great names may it be Prabhu Shriram or Babasaheb Ambedkar or Gandhiji, we just love to make big display of our affection & respect for them but when it comes to adopting their philosophy then we are a big zero (most of us) is a bitter truth! And what I admire abouts Gandhiji is, his clear understanding about the environment of which earth is an inherent part which was ahead of time, as even seventy years back when natural resources weren’t a big issue still, he has written above words which today our environmentalists are shouting in every media! Rather my blog, Vision of Life’s face image also gives the very same message & if you are curious why a builder (which I am for my livelihood) is going on Bapu’s line of thought & where its heading then let me tell you this is about the latest (version you can call) virus to not just the real estate but to entire city (Pune as case study) & that is greed about which Bapuji has warned us nearly seventy five years back. I am actually feeling frowns & wicked smiles from most of the readers as “look who is talking about greed, a builder, hummm” & a few must be thinking “ab aaya Unt pahad ke niche”, it’s a very popular Hindi phrase about someone getting humble after showing lots of attitudes only because of the situation he gets fixed in! Because an industry which is known to be run on greed (fellow builders accept it as that’s what our industries image is) now one of them suddenly speaking about ill effects of greed & I don’t want to prove you wrong or myself right but do mind greed is like an ocean which when you spill it won’t stop to you but consumes everybody around & so has happened to the real estate & this is what I wanted to point out in my sharing.
Look at our ever-growing population which has made us one fifty plus crores & all these people need homes, schools, offices, hospitals, public transport & every such need needs the land which real estate provides & that makes land as the most profitable resource we can have, right? Naturally, for ages it’s the builders who were ultimate beneficiary of the real estate taking away maximum money (again greed) & in that race we as a society are handing over every available piece of land to the real estate encroaching on other species needs from the very said land but the blame was put only on the builders as they were the one who were converting all the lands in to money making i.e. various above mentioned uses while actually, the entire society was running the greed race for land! Slowly other racers i.e. participants (land owners to Mai Bapp govt) in the greed race realized that it’s only the builders which are getting away with the prize money from the land race & here the real problem started! On one side if the govt has increased potential of land use because it can’t increase the existing land in the urban centres & found an avenue for more money, then the landlords may it be plot owners or society owners (in case of redevelopment) started demanding more money or more space (in case of Joint ventures) & nothing wrong as they all could see the money builders were making out of their land & lastly came the flat holders to join the race. Here many will say what flat buyers can make money in real estate, are they not at the mercy of the builders while buying their home! You are right but that was situation a decade back as with ample of FSI supply in the market & lands getting available for development (thanks to govt & redevelopment & PMRDA types establishments) no more the builders are only in commanding position while deciding rates of the homes as there are many players & stronger players too now in real estate which can hold or sustain or say work on lesser margins & suddenly builders realized that they have to negotiate with the flat buyers if they want to survive, this is how flat buyers also earning money as every rupee saved by negotiations while buying your home is a earning actually, right? Now you will say what’s wrong in it as if everybody is in for making money from real estate then the flat buyers or the landlords, why they should be refrained from making money & I agree but then ask who is paying the price of every body’s greed towards the real estate & that answer is reason of my sharing!
As if a builder buys land at a high price & then tries to utilize maximum potential of the land to justify that price paid & as the govt wants to make money by selling things like TDR / Paid FSI so again there is addition in the making cost. And count ever-increasing prices of materials with labour costs & add various govt taxes (and weird taxation system such as zero GST on ready-made homes) & lastly, with all these prices yet you know that the customer is going to bargain with you till you bleed then you will try to make as much construction & make every sq. inch count for sale & for this entire city as well environment is paying the price, this is the reason of my sharing! This doesn’t mean I expect customers to succumb to the prices per sft being quoted by the builders as for decades they were doing so & when everybody including the govt itself trying to think only about their interests then why the flat buyers & redevelopment societies should miss out the train but the problem is protecting or looking after interests & greed, the line is very thin & often overlooked, making the entire city pay for it & our generations, which is what happening now! As real estate is booming in the golden triangle of Mumbai-Nashik-Pune, govt started making full use of it giving FSI which neither the land can hold nor the region & outcome is if on one side (read as one dept such as PMC/ UD) of the govt sanctions the plan then other side (read as other dept such as Environment/Irrigation/Revenue) cries over inability to provide even basic infra like water to the real estate & blames the developers for it! While the actual culprit is everybody including the landlords (and the govt) who expects maximum returns for their piece of the land without bothering what it will cost to the city. As well the govt does nothing to stop migration towards this developed regions & control the growth here & make other regions self-sufficient but keep on making more homes here so more people can get accommodated while other parts of the State are becoming more under developed due to lack of clientele there, let’s think about it!
And in this race we are draining-out not just our basic resources like water or choking the roads with our automobiles but we are directly killing every other species around us as the land is needed not just by the humans but by birds, insects, butterflies & even the jackals & hyenas too which are either entering in to the cities or running around in the search of water & food or just dying, is the scene for which greed of real estate (read as everybody associated), is my reason of sharing! This doesn’t mean we should stop making homes here in Pune neither I expect the landlords to - their lands for free to the builders & definitely I won’t say to the flat buyers to pay over the top of the head to the builders for the homes they are building but just be less greedy while you deal in the real estate in whatever role you are or whichever side of the table you will be in the deal! Just the way today when you don’t have any physical ailing element such as Diabetes of Blood Pressure yet while eating you are careful to consume less sugar or reduce salt in your food to protect your health in the future, same way to protect health of your city & entire surrounding, try to consume less (FSI, what else) while you are building a home or while you buy a home, do look for the builder’s such approach & negotiate a bit less while you buy your home! And by doing so, you are actually saving your own future which is above any per sq. ft rate you will be earning; adios. with this note (read as warning) dear builders, flat buyers & landlords!
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Sanjay Deshpande
Sanjeevani Dev.
Please view my sharing about finding a Right Home/ Office in Pune, at YouTube link below & share if liked...
https://youtu.be/27j3I3rwGPQ?si=-ODYBxVI2Dl_C345
Please do visit my blog links below to read about real estate & home buying!
https://visonoflife.blogspot.com/2024/01/choosing-your-home-along-with-future-of.html
http://jivnachadrushtikon.blogspot.com/2023/02/blog-post.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...
Think Green, Think Life
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