Creativity & Real Estate!

Creativity comes from a conflict of ideas...Donatella Versace

Creativity is the greatest expression of liberty...Bryant H. McGill

Friends, you may wonder why I choose two quotes for the topic? Well first it’s about creativity & on humorous note creativity to me has no why & how?  Secondly on serious note I found the two quotes very parallel to each other considering the subject. Versace the great Italian designer says its conflicts of ideas! Let people express their ideas & from the conflicts of them only something creative is going to be the outcome. And McGill the writer says creativity is greatest expression of liberty! A very different dimension & its freeness of mind & system around which makes one able to express what idea he has thought of, is creativity! Means when we read & analyze the two quotes simultaneously we can take a common outcome; creativity is liberty of sharing ideas freely! As for creativity there has to be conflict of idea but this conflict isn’t forcing our ideas on each other but respecting them as each one has liberty to express them freely & then only the creativity can be at its best!

You will wonder where the topic is going in the context of creativity & real estate? Well, recently on FB i.e. face book I came across a comment by my friend with a photograph along of a beautiful ancient water storage tank with steps on all side of it, a typical of early architecture classic! My friend was saying with so many builders around why even one can’t make such structure now days?

Many a people thinks its waste of time on FB & why to take seriously the comments made over there? But for me I take it as my window towards the world around. It’s same like reading a book or watching a movie! The window is open doesn’t mean we spend all the time in home watching outside of window neither we keep it closed with fear that we will get addicted of watching out all the time! It’s up to us how we use the window & the time watching through it! Addiction of anything is wrong, even may it be watching out of your home window, however beautiful the view may be!

The comment does made me to think a while as being an engineer as well developer by myself some where it does hurt me to acknowledge the bitter truth behind it. This is what I meant when I consider FB as a window to outer world. As now we have access to so many information as well data which wasn’t available earlier & that to on a click of mouse. Naturally we are bound to compare such things on every front, one way is let it go & another is think & try to implement it in our daily life. I always took later & that’s why I replied that post with my comment. But the subject kept on lingering in mind; really what has happened to creativity in our today's construction or say real estate industry?  Here I am deliberately saying real estate industry because it’s this segment which is responsible for major growth of the houses/buildings/ commercial premises in our country. Naturally the creativity factor will be applicable to this very industry first as it’s from here the new structures are being designed & built in our country or let’s consider our very city!

First look out what’s situation on this front around. No doubt things have been much improved in compare to early 80’s when the buildings were just a rectangular blocks with balconies & windows as necessity. Elevation wasn’t the main factor & that’s because a home was considered as basic need & nobody thought of adding any aesthetics to it. Also the bylaws governing the construction were such that there was hardly any space to accommodate the elevation needs. Slowly things started changing as more & more people started moving around the world courtesy higher education & IT industry. They came back with a demand for something different for the home other than providing a shelter. Sam was happening with the work places i.e. commercial buildings. People were getting aware about newer things in & look of the complex becomes as important as utility of the complex. At some places even replacing the utility, look used to get more important. Yet I won’t call it creative with due respect as creativity is not trying to design something different, its keeping things as simple it can be sticking to the very basic purpose of that thing. And to me a home has to be designed for the first to make the life of a person living in it comfortable! On this front we are still lagging a lot when it comes to design & built a creative home. Remember giving a club house or garden or high end amenities doesn’t mean a creative design of a complex. It has to be reflected in entire planning of the building right from outer look to interconnection of the houses within. It’s something one can feel by taking just one look at the structure. Still with change of building rules now the architect can accommodate many creative ideas & it’s heartening to see many are trying so. The outcome is occasionally now days we do come across a structure which is soothing to eyes as well serving the purpose.

Also when we say creative structures it’s not necessary that the term should be limited to residential or commercial buildings. It can be public building, bridges, museums, stadiums, temple even developing a traffic island or a garden i.e. anything. Important is it should reflect the creativity not harming the use of the structure rather making it easier with this touch of creativity, should be the criteria. Issue is in our country except commercial & residential buildings mostly rest all the development is carried by Govt/Semi Govt establishments where rarely the term creativity is considered while applying thoughts. They prefer to go by standard pattern of designs which are same from ages; for e.g. see the Govt Post offices or schools or administrative buildings. In western countries or developed countries even a small post office of fire station is designed with such a elegance that you admire the beauty of it forgetting the purpose for a while! Such sights make us wonder like my friend why in our country it’s no happening & that too when we have a heritage of so many such structures right from Kahjuraho temples to Taj Mahal to Pan Chakki at Aurangabad the list is endless! Our ancestors were way ahead on the front of creativity than we are today.

On a practical note I will like to mention that art & culture grow only when rulers allow such conditions in which they will grow! What we observe around is no one is interested in creating something good but to build either just to make money or survival! In such society you can’t expect creation but only money making products as that’s what most of the creators want as output! Look at the movies which make business & u will understand what I meant. Our creativity is being lost in fighting the system we are in! All we can think is FSI i.e. how much we can build on the said piece of land & sale more & more. Fault is in the system where the developer is the key & he is least bothered about the creative factor. An architect is the main thrust behind any project as any structure is his creation but fact is the architects are becoming victim of this vicious circle of Builder, FSI, Land & Salability! Result is, not necessary that a successful architect is a creative architect; rather a successful architect is the one who makes maximum salable area out of a plot. Same is with structural designers; the demand is for most economic designed structure making creativity taking back seat! Need is the developers should be aware of this factor & start respecting creativity in whatever he is developing. One should be proud of what one has built & smallest of the things should be created keeping this aspect in mind. Unfortunate the rulers either ignorant about this front or want it same way; as else there would have been special efforts to change this scene from them. We don’t try to encourage creativity in designing by making rules flexible to accommodate the creativity in design which will give liberty to the architects to make such structures.

Only hope is now in the form of common man as when its Industry or Govt, it delivers what’s in demand! So unless we don’t demand or respect creativity we are stuck to routine glass walls or sky scrapers, just trying to look different on the name of creativity!


Sanjay Deshpande

Sanjeevani Dev.

Envo-Power Committee, Credai, Pune

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

http://visonoflife.blogspot.com/

Social Side of Sanjeevani !(Click link below)

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VAT, Conveyance & the Society!

Society exists only as a mental concept; in the real world there are only individuals...Oscar Wilde.

Surely looking at the scenario on urban horizon the words from the wise man seems so true! Recently in all media where issue of VAT (VALUE ADDED TAX) on the flats is being discussed, one point repeatedly put forward by many NGO's as well Consumer Forum Activist, that ask the developer to fulfill the committed things he has agreed like Occupation certificate or fixing MSEB meters or to make the Conveyance of the property first & then pay the VAT amount! Here many would have got the impression that conveyance is something builder is reluctant to do all the time & everywhere. But let’s come to reality & except the fat that as the quote says in many places building is ready, possession is given with all formalities like occupation certificate but yet conveyance is not done as no one comes forward from flat holders.

We need to understand the concept of conveyance first as when you buy a flat in any building its just agreement of ownership of the flat & not the entire building including common spaces & land. A commence is an agreement by virtue of which the entire property gets on the name of group of flat holders making them owner of the whole premise. Here there can be two ways one is forming society or making apartment. I am no master of this & there are enough legal minds who can speak on the difference between at apartment or a society. For me when we are living together then how we behave is important than what we are called! Unfortunately most people get indulged in wrong direction that what any member don’t pay the monthly maintenance charges, then what is better at such times, society or apartment? As per my experience both are useless at such times as not paying maintain ace charges or any sharing of common expenditure is an attitude & no law can control it. There have been examples of non paying members in many buildings & the law suits are on for years. We have to decide what kind of group we are! No law can be made keeping in mind that what if somebody breaks it? Nothing is full proof when it’s stopping bad practices, it’s our individual approach to the problem only can solve it & not the laws.

The main issue is not about society or apartment but who will take the lead from residents side to form it & then to run it? As in present days nobody has time especially when it’s for society. With increasing expenses & reducing interest costs one time maintenance deposit isn’t viable & collecting monthly amounts is common at most places. Naturally the job is left to the Chairman or Secretary of the society or apartment condominium whatever it is. For the sake of this write up let’s call it as society. Most members are not willing to become office bearers or take lead in society day to day proceedings. Even to check the draft of conveyance takes more than 6 months is my personal experience with some complexes! As people have myths about being office bearers that they will have to do all the dirty work like collecting money or follow up with the fellow residents for the same, deal with various local governing bodies like PMC water supply or MSEB, be responsible for the tenants issue with Police & many such. Many a say take whatever maintenance amount you decide but don’t involve us in society workings! Then for larger complexes there are always allegations of partiality if there are work allotments for things like painting of the complex or drive way paving etc. All such things keep most of the people away from taking any lead in society workings.

Recently a small notification has been issued by the Govt which got missed by many but has an important impact on such mentality, that every office barer of the society within 45 days after making for the post they have to give an affidavit saying they will be responsible for any financial damage to the society by their act while working as office barer for the society. Now this affidavit will no longer required to be filled by the society’s office barer’s. This was one major hurdle which makes people wary about taking any such responsibility in society working. Then there is unnecessary fear factor of what if some members don’t pay? Well here the role of the developer too is important as right in the beginning if a meeting is conducted with all the occupants & a path is laid making them explain all ifs & buts then such situation don’t arise. Mostly if instead of monthly collection six monthly or yearly one time collection is made then it’s easier for office bearers too, to handle the daily routine of the society. Now days many are opting for the apartment deed than forming of society considering its easier & things like obtaining NOC of society for selling the flat etc are avoided in apartment. Again as I say even the apartment condominium can make all such rules which will be binding on all the residents so it doesn’t matter what we name the association of certain people but how responsible we are towards the association is .

Coming  back to appeal of the activist on paying issue of VAT by the flat holders, will like to point out one thing that if its written in the agreement of the flat holder that VAT will be beard by him then how can we say to the developer to enter in conveyance first & then pay the VAT amount. As after conveyance the ownership itself will get handed over to the flat holders which no developer is going to agree without getting paid for Vat amount. I am not commenting its right or wrong just pointing out the actual scene around. No doubt that the amount should be worked out as per the norms of Sales Tax Dept & there has to be transparency in the whole process then only one should pay the same. So no to pay the Vat until commence happens is the wrong message  sending to the common man & will invite legal battle; instead get an undertaking from developer for completing conveyance as well the pending things to be done & then under than affidavit pay the VAT amount.

Here again one thing I didn’t understand why the people don’t get unite & go to consumer forum if they have been deprived from the commitments by the developer? Why people move in without things like occupation certificate as well MSEB electric meter! Many will say it’s easy to say but the one who don’t have a home instead paying rent prefers to move in the home in whatever form its available! It’s exactly this mentality we need to fight out is what I feel. What if there hasn’t been Vat issue? Will we have not protested against such pending commitments from our developer? By connecting two things we are unnecessarily complicating the mater for even the developers who have clean track record. A wrong act is always a wrong act & any timing is right to fight it out! Understand this & come forward to take the responsibility in society/apartment formation as that’s for your own better living!
--
Sanjay Deshpande

Sanjeevani Dev.

Envo-Power Committee, Credai, Pune

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

http://visonoflife.blogspot.com/

Social Side of Sanjeevani !(Click link below)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/65629150@N06/sets/72157628805700569/

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

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Taxes, Real Estate & Affordable Home!

The art of taxation consists in so plucking the goose as to get the most feathers with the least hissing...Jean Baptist Colbert

Well looking around the scene in real estate our Govt seems not to have heard this famous quote about taxation as the feathers are not only been plucked out, ignoring the hisses but even wailing of the Goose! Especially when it comes to Real Estate Industry, it’s bleeding by now leave apart shouting while the taxation continues under different headings!

As usual many rather most will say what’s wrong, if you earn then pay! And any ways when it comes to builders they are usually reluctant to pay back even a single rupee for any cause that’s why the Govt has to pull the things away from them! Well may be true in some cases but not always. For instance take the recent news which has stormed Real Estate Industry across the State of Maharashtra ( or soon will storm) is the VAT i.e. Value Addition Tax case in which the High court has decided against the developers. And has allowed the Sales Tax Department to collect the VAT from 2010 but  to charge for the same since 2006 i.e. even on completed projects too. After all its a court decision & the matter will go surely to higher courts but till the time being it’s one more hole in the pocket for the developers & eventually for the flat buyers. As usual many rather most will say what big deal, which developer pays the same from his pocket! Well this time the case is bit different & complex as the retrospective effect for VAT collection is from 2006, many of the projects have been completed & flat holders have been given possession of their respective homes. Though this particular clash was going on since then that whether VAT is applicable on home making, the Sales Tax dept hasn’t been collecting the same till 2010 so whatever tax was due in these five years is the issue of dispute now between the Developers & the Sales Tax Dept. Though by agreement it’s mandatory to pay it by the flat holder as mostly in all flat agreements this idea has been clearly given to the flat buyer, yet now the conflict will be between the customers & the developers over paying this tax even after getting possession of their home! Not many of the flat holders will be even remembering such clause in their flat agreements leave apart paying the liability. And this may cause the developers to take a stand not to make conveyance of the such properties as if the flat holder refuses to pay  Vat then it will be breech of the contract, if there is such clause in flat sale agreement between himself & the developer. One direct impact which is unavoidable is the hike in home prices as the developers will have to recover this unexpected financial burden & if they are unable to do it from the existing flat holders then naturally other only way is get it from the new ones! I am not justifying this action just putting forward the facts what may happen.

Now with the case has been lost by Developers on high Court the Sales Tax Dept has started plucking the feathers i.e. sent notices & the dead line to pay the tax liability from 2006 has been set as 31st August!  By now there must have been many news making headlines as well articles written on the issue by tax experts so no point in going in the details as even the experts seems to be yet confused about the mode of VAT for the retrospective effect years. I am not authority to decide whether its justifiable to charge any tax retrospective as courts are there to decide but as developer by myself &a as a commoner who knows little about taxes all I expect is whatever you charge should be simple to understand. At least what I am going to pay from my pocket should be clear to me so I can arrange my finances accordingly & this is the least any tax payer can ask for! Look at the scene this is going to cause, I have to pay something which I don’t know how much it’s going to be, and whenever such situation is there we all know where it will lead at end? You may not name corruption directly but there will be many cases of trying to run away from the actual figure is a fact. Why can’t before serving the notices the concerned dept itself do a little home work & figure out exact & simple way of calculating the VAT, so there would not have been the confusion about arriving at the figure in itself!

Similar thing have kept happening may it be VAT or Service tax or even the premiums required for the plan sanctioning at governing body's level. Everyone thinks that Real Estate is like the Hen in that story which used to lay Golden eggs. But then we have never known to learn from the folk stories & like the story here in actual too we are hell bend on cutting the Hen than enjoying one egg per day forever! One will wonder with my statement but fact is ever Govt dept concerned with real estate wants their cut from the industry & in the process they are forgetting that to whom they are actually bleeding? A home is very basic need of any citizen of this country especially the urban India & already the prices are way beyond budge for most of the people. On one side the Govt is screaming to make affordable houses & making appeals to the developers for making them & on other side burdening the homes each day with new taxes. Have we thought who is getting burdened under these taxes? The developer isn’t surely going to take any of this load but to pass on the end buyer who is a common man seeking for his own home. Just take a look at the list of the taxes or money being paid to various Govt agencies in process of sanctioning a home to make it ready & then you will realize the quantum of money a common home buyer ends up in paying to the Govt for buying a home!

The journey starts right from the sanction process of a home i.e. project by the developer. Presently just in forms of various premiums like for balcony, terraces, stair case areas & development charges one has to pay nearly 150/- to 300/- per sft of FSI. Then there are labor fund charges. You have to pay for slum rehabilitation for use of slum TDR. Then there are various charges to be paid for use of road FSI ( though it’s your own road you are handing over to PMC), water development charges. All such are being collected by local governing body. After that come in revenue dept which chare for NA i.e. giving Non Agricultural permissions after the plans have been sanctioned & then City Survey Dept which charges hefty for measuring your own plot! All these charges are paid by the developer to get the project sanctioned. Then comes the registration charges & stamp duty. That is nearly 6% of agreement cost in city limits i.e. if flat agreement of 4000/- per sft the you end up paying nearly 240/- per sft to stamp dept of Govt. The story doesn’t end her then you have service tax for Central Govt which is nearly 2.5% of the agreement cost & latest entry is VAT which will be 3% approximately ( not sure as final way of charging is yet to arrived) of the agreement cost. If roughly calculated then to my opinion we will be paying nearly 600/- per sq.ft of the flat area in the form of various taxes & charges to the Govt's different Departments in the process of making a home & selling the same. Here I am not counting the time consumed in all this process & cost of the same. Needless to say this amount is being eventually recovered by the customer only! Then there is the power supply i.e. MSEB meter charges which are like icing on cake & charged separately per flat & that varies from project to project. And lastly for those who avails the home loan there is bank processing fees & registration / stamp duty for loan amount!

Here no developer is paying this from his pocket & why blame developer no manufacturer ever pays anything from his pocket is a well known but unsaid truth! Every single Rupee is charged on the end buyer of the product & a home is not exception! This is what I never understand as when the product is like home & one so dear to the heart of millions in this country why can’t there has been a single taxation concept which will make life easier for many. Nobody is against paying taxes  it’s about the way you worked out them. As the developer will know how much he has to pay for making a home so as there can be better transparency in the entire process which is missing presently. Today mostly all flat agreements carries a clause a saying whatever Govt Taxes/ Duties applicable will have to be paid by the purchaser as actual. This clause even puts the purchaser in dilemma as he never knows actually how much he is going to pay till end while buying a home. This does not only disturbs his financial planning but the entire real estate industry comes in doubt as where is the term we call Transparency? Lastly have we thought that by charging so much on every aspect of real estate how we are going to make the home affordable which is the main need of the time. As agreed it’s the taxes we pay which makes a nation able to go on but that has to be done balancing all these aspects & if there are taxes then there should be rewards also for right cause such as making homes available to real needy ones! After all what a common man can expect from the Govt is just a shelter on his head & for that he is going to pay whatever the Govt asks, question is are we going to consider his shouts of pain while doing this or going ahead to pluck the feathers ignoring the same!

Sanjay Deshpande

Sanjeevani Dev.

Envo-Power Committee, Credai, Pune

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

http://visonoflife.blogspot.

com/

Social Side of Sanjeevani !(Click link below)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/
65629150@N06/sets/72157628805700569/

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

http://www.punecorporation.org/GRS/Complaint/LaunchComplaintCitizen.aspx

Think Green, Think Life

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Expanding the City! Part 3

Growth for the sake of growth is the ideology of the cancer cell...Edward Abbey.

Well this quote from the great author perfectly fits for our subject i.e. merging of adjoining new villages in Municipal Corporation. We should remember the basic objective of expanding the city limits or else it will be just on paper & not towards what we want to achieve out of it. What we should be looking for is a monolithic growth covering all features of development of this very city but in actual look what we are doing? More than ten years have been passed by de-merging 8 villages & merging 15 villages in PMC & we are yet unable to approve final Development plan of the city & major issues like TDR these area which are very important for acquiring the lands for various reservations haven’t yet decided up on. Why TDR even we have not taken any firm stand of burning issue of Hill Top Hill Slope under which more than 10% of the newly acquired villages area is coming!

Being an engineer by myself as well having a little bit exposure for urban planning I haven’t yet understood why we made two development plans for one city? I.e. for old limits separate DP & for newly acquired villages separate DP! Has such thing been done any where i.e. wit any other city, have we checked it with senior urban planners? Why one city couldn’t have one DP? Will it not be more easier to plan a city in whole than in pieces & then to link them? And why it’s taking so long for us to get our DP sanctioned & come in working? All these things shows our rulers attitude towards the issue of city development. And these things do come to even common man's mind also but seems to get skipped by our rulers!

And on this back ground we are going ahead for expanding our city further by acquiring nearly 10 more villages. Going with the present logic of planning, shall we expect a third DP for these villages? Which sure will be a gunnies book record i.e. making three development plan for one city! And if we are taking ten years for just getting one DP sanctioned of newly merged villages which are with us & even elections being conducted for the same & they have representives from them on PMC, yet no one demands the DP for their area, what all this indicates? Look at the areas which are there now with PMC since ten years, even the most accessible & sought after suburbs like Baner & Balewadi, basic facilities like drainage, water & road network isn’t been there yet to even 50% of the area! And when some proposal is made to get the road net work done there is a shout that it’s for developers benefit! Well, where ever a building is being build & sold there is developers benefit but then where should the citizens of this city will live if not in buildings? The infrastructure in whatever form it comes should be welcomed as every citizen of this city deserves good roads , water supply, drainage & electricity as his basic right. And even a single building has been build in any of the suburb, we have to give them proper infrastructure like other citizen in main city are having as they too are paying property tax like all other people does. And in fact acquiring land for roads is first & foremost important thing in any urban planning as along the roads only other services can be planned as well we can go to the lands which have been reserved for different purposes. Simple thing like proper tree plantation along the roads should be done as early as possible as then only the trees we have planted now will be in position to absorb the polluted gases when the traffic on these roads will increase in future! Actually we should learn from countries like USA where roads are build first & then the buildings follows. Leave apart the cultural infrastructure like play ground & hospitals which are always neglected here in our urban planning which comes last. All this because we have taken the villages in PMC just for the sake of growth & not for development is what one can conclude if going by our actions.

Recently there was a news about a court case by the residents of a complex against the developer for supplying the water for a project which is in PMC limits. The court gave a verdict against the developer saying it’s his responsibility as at the time of plan sanctioning he has submitted an undertaking in PMC that it will be his responsibility to provide the water at his cost to the residents if PMC fails to do so! Well it’s good to save their own skin but when PMC accepts all the money paid in form of various premiums which is supposed for the development of infrastructure & approves the plans then is not their primary responsibility to provide water & drainage like facilities! Taking such undertaking & passing the plans is a sign of sheer monopoly ruling system & just as they are the only governing authority they are making rules on one way & getting benefitted both ways without any responsibility. If the residents are living their & using the water why shall not they only pay for the same, was PMC supposed to supply them water at free of cost? Why PMC has to take undertaking saying developer will bear the expenses of water supply? And as I have already said this is just tip of the iceberg  because there will be many more issues about the road condition, drainage discharge in adjoining natural water bodies , because we have expanded  ourselves but not grown! It’s like a child who simply increase in size with age but totally dependent on the parents for daily basic activities. Unfortunately in our case the parents have refused to take responsibility of the child yet have given birth to it is the fact!

No one denies the need of merging the adjoining villages as the city is growing & will keep on in future to is a writing on the wall. But then we were never known to read the writings on the wall! This merging should have done ten years back only but any ways now also the time has yet run out fullely. And why just ten villages? Like the core area of forest has a buffer zone , whatever is our buffer area lets define it first & then merge that all will be a proper way to do it. As planning of city is not a thing one keeps on doing on yearly basis. Such types of decisions have long lasting impact on the main city & its people so we need to think down the line for at least 50-60 years & then decide our capacity to expand for once on final time only. As it’s a shame that just after ten years even before we have finalized the DP for the same we realize that whatever merging has been done ten years back was inadequate & so put forward proposal for new merging of surrounding villages! The same story should not be repeated every ten years like Jana Ganana is what good planning is.

And the journey has just started by making a resolution that to by just one of the ruling party. It has to be yet tabled in front of General Body i.e. main house of all elected members then the comprehensive plan has to be made for the exact area to be acquired. Again the said villages Gram Panchayts has to accept this merging & then proposal will be send to State Govt's Urban Development Dept & suggestion objects will be called up on then green signal will be shown to the proposal. We can imagine when just DP passing of existing acquired area can take ten years then how much time will be required to complete the whole journey of new acquisition & planning for the same! Unfortunate is the city won’t stop growing in all these years which will be wasted in just deciding whether to acquire the villages or not & if yes how? We are neglecting this fact & not prepared to deal with it. There is provision of applying rules  for the areas within ten kilometer radius from the existing PMC boundary, which are for class A municipal corporation but the current governing bodies for this area has got no man power or system  to keep proper check on the implementation of these rules. The plans of the new developments in these to be acquired villages may get passed by applying the rules but there is no assurance that it will be followed in actual at site. And what about acquisition of reservation lands & their safety, who will be taking that responsibility, just few more undertakings! Nobody is taking in to consideration what has happened all around us; for e.g. Parvati Hills slum! What guarantee is there that when all the procedure for acquiring villages get completes these reservation lands will be vacant & in proper form to get developed the same for the purpose they have been kept? And another issue is what about the infrastructure to the residents of these areas till all this process gets completed? Till then are these people supposed to survive on undertakings taken by the developers! Are we interested in just collecting revenues & let the city grow in whatever way its growing or are we interested in giving good life to its citizens? Some day someone is going to ask these questions of which we don’t have any answers.

We are forgetting that first duty of any governing urban body is to provide a proper shelter to its citizens & that won’t happen automatically. One has to plan & see that the plan gets in existence by the actions. Here not only the PMC or Urban Development Dept but even the role of Developers & Media is equally important. As common man isn’t aware of any of these things so we need to make them realize the truth about the city they are living in. In any planning time is the essence as even if we don’t acquire the villages they will be & are going to be part of the city is a fact, issue is whether we are going learn from the mistakes in past or continuing the same story from the last page! That is what going to decide the faith of our beloved city & real estate in it. After all what is a Real Estate Industry? It’s one of the basic need fulfilling aspect of the society & this has to be understand by all those who are related to it. As then only we can make the life of common man in this city a bit easier & what better can he ask for?

--
Sanjay Deshpande

Sanjeevani Dev.

Envo-Power Committee, Credai, Pune

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

http://visonoflife.blogspot.com/

Social Side of Sanjeevani !(Click link below)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/65629150@N06/sets/72157628805700569/

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

http://www.punecorporation.org/GRS/Complaint/LaunchComplaintCitizen.aspx

Think Green, Think Life

www.sanjeevanideve.com

Expanding the City!

“In great cities, spaces as well as places are designed and built: walking, witnessing, being in public, are as much part of the design and purpose as is being inside to eat, sleep, make shoes or love or music. The word citizen has to do with cities, and the ideal city is organized around citizenship -- around participation in public life.” ...Rebecca Solnit.

Coming to the core part of our subject of merging the adjoining villages in to Municipal Corporations, the quote by the great planner certainly makes me think about the scene around. It’s not the question of merging but question is where are we heading for? I remember a story from my earlier days of starting my field work;  In a big industry there was a canteen for the people working at the industry & where a board has been displayed saying  " Our workers eat the same food which our Managers eat!" One day someone changed the board saying " Our Managers eat the same food which our Workers eat!" Leave apart the joke or sarcastisum in the story but same logic is applicable here is what many will say. Like the villagers will get the same infrastructure which citizen in the corporation gets or will it be citizen in our corporation will get the same infrastructure which the villagers have! Truth remains that however we accept the fact that villages i.e. Gram Panchayts are surely not structured for giving proper infrastructure to the increasing demands from urbanization; but are the Municipal Corporations  really capable of giving that assurance to the citizens? Sadly the facts here also says no. See the current water or traffic problems & you will know what I meant. Though these are just tip of iceberg when it comes to problems of city life! And the scene is same all around the country except few examples like Ahmadabad or Chandigarh where the not just the Civic Administration but even the State bosses also joined the hand to plan a better life offering city & then to execute what they have planned.

On such scenario many will say then what’s the need of acquiring or merging the new or adjoining villages when we can’t serve properly the existing citizen of the city? Well saying this is one thing & accepting this logic will be making ourselves  the infamous " Shaikhchilly" who cut down the very branch of the tree on which he was sitting! Looking around at what we call  our city & its planning then  the new DP i.e. development plan of the old city is in making & will be soon tabled before the city fathers. That itself has crossed the time limit but any ways at least now it’s been drafted. We have heard from many of the city prominent figures saying we should plan for minimum 100 years for the city! Well, saying is easy as words don’t cost but a city is never stand still & is ever growing; so are the problems generated by its growth. In such conditions to plan something which will be freeze for 100 years is simply illogical on the aspect of development. Instead take opinion of real great urban planning minds which are abundantly available in our country, a factor which we never took in account & what they will suggest is freeze the concepts of planning for 100 years & plan the DP around these principals for shorter spans i.e. 20 years & move ahead. This will ensure the basic principles of planning & road to access the  growth problems will remain same & a direction of the journey will be fixed. Then all what is left will be ensuring its execution on smaller spans which also needs to be monitored regularly even yearly.

We have things like Environment Report which seems to be being published now yearly & we do read the news about the same when its published, that’s all! What is more important is implementation of the same & making it more transparent by virtue of which we can actually assess the impact on common man's life with whatever policies we are making for the better environment of the city. I haven't read the Environment Report but I am curious whether it has interviews of people from all segments from the city & their views about the kind of life this city is offering to them! I am sure that will make the Environment Report more interesting as well realistic as a City don’t get read by the reports but by the people living in it & their day to day experiences with the City! We have  green belts which are being utilized for all sorts of things but greening! We have rivers & streams but they are worst than nallahs! We have hills which are turning gray with the slums & illegal constructions than being a green cover for the city! So many things needs to look in while fixing the policies & the main is why in last 30 years we could not implement the Development Plan of the city at its fullest? Statistics says we have not acquired even 40% of the reservations from the last development plan which was made in 87 & we don’t have exact figures how many reservations of acquired have been developed for the purpose they have been acquired! Classic example is we raise hell about the traffic problems & its solutions on one side & on other side we have the HCMTR i.e. High Capacity Mass Transport Route which has been planned since last 25 or more years but only on plan! Not a single inch of it has been built in all these years! So many such examples we have from the existing city planning which can be an eye opener while planning our any next move towards the future of this city! This column is not to blame Govt or ruling parties but to analyze the facts around us & may once we have got the problem then only we can have the solution, is the way I look at it. On all above back ground we need to seriously ask a question to our own self that are we ready to expand really? Or instead while making  a Greater City are we going to end up as a Greater Village!

One will again ask, what’s all this to real estate industry? It is any way growing so why to worry? Well, ignorance is bliss but not for long! When we say real estate is growing it’s not just the prices we should be looking for its the availability of a good home to all segments of the society is what we should be aiming for. And where we stand on this scale? Frankly even a small kid can tell how poorly we are doing  on this front. Series of illegal constructions, ever expanding slums & encroachments on reservation lands, shrinking of natural water channels & continuously expanding city limits in itself tell the story that we are far behind on providing good affordable homes to the citizen of this very city within the so called city! Just more & more people are coming here & willing to live in this city, that doesn’t mean all is well. It’s out of compulsion this may be happening, the day they will get better alternative they will choose that option over this city, let’s not forget this fact! We need to conserve our strengths & explore them than ruining our resources. Role of Developers also is equally important on this front as we need to plan the homes keeping in mind that Real Estate is not only money making thing but a service to the society also! Call it Municipal limit or Grampanchayat, the target should be giving a good accommodation to the common man which may not have a fancy living amenities but a basic infrastructure where they can live at peace & what more a good city can offer to its residents! For that need of the time is will power to do so; which seem to be missing & this responsibility is not of just the Govt or the Town Planning Officers or some department of administration but of every citizen. Unless we press our demands strongly we are not going to get them is a truth. And for that we need to table them & put forward on every platform then only some where some hope is alive. As to deserve an ideal city we need to be an ideal citizen first & that is in our own hands only!

--

Sanjay Deshpande

Sanjeevani Dev.

Envo-Power Committee, Credai, Pune

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

http://visonoflife.blogspot.com/

Social Side of Sanjeevani !(Click link below)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/65629150@N06/sets/72157628805700569/

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

http://www.punecorporation.org/GRS/Complaint/LaunchComplaintCitizen.aspx

Think Green, Think Life

www.sanjeevanideve.com

Sample flat, a concept!

Decorate your home. It gives the illusion that your life is more interesting than it really is...Charles M. Schulz

Well, how opt are the words on the back ground of today's subject! Many a developers won’t like the comparison with what they are doing at their projects but truthfully that's the whole purpose of the concept Sample flat or more popularly known as Show Flat! Since long the concept of sample flat exists in real estate Industry as unlike any other industry to make a prototype model is extremely difficult & for years the customers had to wait to get possession of their own home to understand & feel the exact nature of their own home! As in Auto or White Goods i.e. AC/Freeze products you can actually see a model, observe its features, check their performance, feel them in the show room & then select what you want to buy. Whereas while buying the costliest product of your life all you have is a brochure, some images & sometimes a model of the building & that to miniature one! Never one could have got the feel of interior of the home then.

Well sure it was a difficult situation & many years the industry went along with it but lastly in late 90's when more than single building projects started & the concept of townships come in then to sale the volume of the homes, developers started realizing to have a life style model of the home they have to sale. As with large volumes to sale there was a strong need to give something more to attract the customer in compare with others as well to make them feel larger than the life while selecting their home. In a way this was one marketing move too. Also when the height of building was restricted to 4-5 floors it wasn't technically possible to finish one flat earlier but with technology changing & building height lifted to 10-11 storied it was possible to complete all civil works of 1st floor flats & make it ready for display. It started with a regular finish flat with standard amenities s the project would be having. Then slowly some developers started putting furniture in it to give the idea of the room lay out & now days we have designer flats specially made as show flat. These many a times may not be matching with the standard amenities but like in automobile advertise, it carries a note that the customer can get the flat made up like the show flat by paying extra.

As an engineer  I can say that the importance  of a sample flat is much more for the developers, architects & the construction team than for customer. A building is a complex thing & has many agencies working over it. Here in our country mostly all the works at site are being carried out manually; especially works which are related to finishing i.e. Plastering, Tiling, Wood work like doors fittings, Painting etc. Now as there are many masons or painters who will be working at a time in a single project, so it’s very difficult to define the quality of the workmanship of the job of a individual worker. As two individuals will have different skills it’s important that all people working should have one basic scale of finishing quality in their mind & this we can show them actually via sample flat. As finishing of a plaster surface or paint quality can’t be described in mere words, one has to actually see it to achieve the same. Here the sample flat plays important role for the workers & supervisors at the site. As they all come on a equal platform for defining the term quality of finishing. Then there are many things which people are unable to understand on drawing, things like plumbing arrangements & fittings. It’s always helpful to do a role model as if there are some designing faults they can be restricted to the sample flat level only & other flats can have improved version  eliminating the faults of the sample flat. This usually happens with electric & plumbing systems of a home as things may look different when put in actual than in drawings. Also many a times things like door sizes or window arrangements you realize in more better way when you actually feel them in existence & then you can improvise the same in better way for next flats. Work specification gets finalized in this process & things like color of flooring as well dado tiles in toilets you can decide in better way when gets actually displayed at site than just in product catalogue. And this is why however small project may be a sample flat is important keeping in minds better work out put & not just by marketing angle.

From the customer point of view it’s vital to understand the specifications & amenities provided in show flat & ensure out of that what he will be getting actually for his flat as per the agreement. Mainly what one should learn from the show flat is feel of the flat he will be buying. Many will ask what I meant by feel of the flat? It means getting judgment of the space you will be getting to use after getting possession. The room sizes, their interrelation with each other, natural light for each room & wind direction by arrangement of windows. Also one should understand that sample flat can give you idea of the inside only. When its numbers of buildings one has to remember that outside view will be different for each corner & you have to imagine accordingly the outside view from each room as per the internal arrangement of the flat. Also do ask about what kind of changes can be done in your flat to personalize the same in compare with the sample flat. Usually I don't recommend change in plumbing arrangement as in multi-storied building that may cause later maintenance problems. So if you have any real difficulty with the show flat arrangement of plumbing then do ask to the developer whether it can be changed in the entire flats so as everyone can get benefited with the change if its genuine!

At the same time see that the space is enough for the furniture lay out you have got in your mind & the use of the rooms is feasible as per the sizes of the rooms. Check out the furniture displayed whether it’s too the mark i.e. dining table size & bed dimensions. For e.g. there has to be enough space to accommodate a proper sized bed, a wardrobe& a dressing table, which is bare minimum must in a bed room. This aspect one should check while seeing the sample flat. Also check up for window arrangements in each room & light & ventilation they will be providing at your flat. Remember that the sample flat displays just the inside & the location within the building as well within the complex if there are numbers of buildings also plays significant role in light ventilation, privacy & view fronts of a home.

The best I can suggest here is not just relay on the sample flat but visit the developers completed project if any having flats of similar pattern. It will give you idea about his commitments not only towards the inside of the flat but about entire set up i.e. from surrounding development to arrangement of buildings & the interrelation of the flats within the building. As then only one can get the complete realistic idea about your builders approach towards your home & that is most important than just displaying a designer show flat!
--
Sanjay Deshpande

Sanjeevani Dev.

Envo-Power Committee, Credai, Pune

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

http://visonoflife.blogspot.com/

Social Side of Sanjeevani !(Click link below)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/65629150@N06/sets/72157628805700569/

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

http://www.punecorporation.org/GRS/Complaint/LaunchComplaintCitizen.aspx

Think Green, Think Life

www.sanjeevanideve.com