Is it safe to book a flat in Pune real estate market?

No. It is not safe to book a flat in Pune.

Karia Developers' Konark Meadows - 1 BHK 2 BHK 3 BHK Flats - at RMC Garden Compound - behind Moze College - Wagholi - Kharadi annexe - Nagar Road - Pune - Launch Ad (DNA 7-5-2011)

Pune real estate market has crashed.

Pune real estate bubble has burst.

Property buyers & real estate investors have realized that -
1) The builders in Pune are not trustworthy.
2) The quality of properties in Pune is poor.
3) The current property prices are fake - not genuine.
4) The properties in Pune have no potential to appreciate.

Thanks to the residents of Vista Luxuria Manjri & RTI Activist Vijay Kumbhar for bringing to light the true status of Pune real estate market.

More than 150 projects in Pune real estate market have no Environmental Clearance. It means that these are illegal unauthorized housing projects.

Like the flat buyers in Pristine City Bakori - BA Vermont at Wagholi - thousands of Pune property buyers who have booked flats in these projects - which have no environmental clearance - do not know whether they will get their flats or not. These property buyers feel that their builders have cheated them.

 Like the residents of Parmar Indus Associates' Vista Luxuria at Manjri - those homebuyers who have got possession & are occupying their flats in the projects which have not received Environmental Clearance - are worried about evacuation & demolition of their illegal unauthorised properties.

In this situation - when majority of builders are systematically - cheating - looting - deceiving - property buyers in Pune - how can I tell you to take a risk of booking a flat in any project in Pune?

This is my standard answer when someone calls me on 919860044110 and asks - "Ravi Karandeekar, is it safe to book a flat in Pune?"

More than 150 illegal unauthorized housing projects in Pune:

Yes! Now a days, people ask me - Is it safe to book a flat in Pune?

Because, now everybody knows that - not only the fly by night operators in the fringe villages of Pune - like the builder of Sphurti Aangan at Narhe Ambegaon - are constructing illegal unauthorised construction - but the members of CREDAI Pune Metro (www.credaipune.org) & Marathi Bandhkam Vyavsayik Association - MBVA - (www.mbva.in) are also constructing illegal unauthorised constructions.

Thanks to all those builders in Pune - who have committed a crime of violation of environmental clearance - property buyers' sentiments about investing in Pune have shattered. They no more feel that Pune is a safe place to invest. They don't trust Pune builders anymore.

By trying to sell the flats in the projects - which have no environmental clearance - means no permission to construct - these builders are proving that breaking the Environment Protection Act 1986 was not an accident. It was the criminal conspiracy of builders, bureaucrats, and politicians. Says Mr. Vijay Kumbhar, RTI Activist.


(To View More Photos - Put Your Cursor Over the Current Photo)

We are not criminals. We are stupid:

To find out what Pune builders say about mass violation of environmental clearance, I talked to a few builders - including Mr. Sudhir Darode, Director - Darode Jog Properties (www.darodejog.com) & President, Marathi Bandhkam Vyavsayik Association Pune. Have a look at what they said - .

1) Criminal conspiracy of builders, bureaucrats & politicians?

No!

The rampant corruption  has made politicians & bureaucrats financially more powerful than all these builders in Pune - who have capacity to build 3 - 15 acre small townships - and have violated environmental clearance.

Why would these politicians & bureaucrats  risk their lucrative posts and join us?

They are the 'friends' of big builders who develop 100 plus acre townships.

Our failure to solve the issue of environmental clearance itself proves that politicians & bureaucrats are not with us. Said one builder in Pune.

2) Is Pune real estate a criminal enterprise?

No.

We are not criminals. We are stupid.

We didn't understand the difference between 'Office Memo' & 'Law'.

We were misguided. We misinterpreted. We misunderstood. We were misled.

You know why?

Because, there was no clarity.

The environmental committee - authority - kept on changing their policies as per their whims & fancies.

Once we were told that - we can start construction without obtaining environmental clearance - then suddenly - the committee said no - we can't.

They fooled us.

Because of 'them' we look stupid
- stupid builders who do not know when to start construction.

Said one builder in Pune.

3) Are Pune builders swindlers, scamsters & cheaters?

No.

We, the builders in Pune, are mostly 'father & son' outfits.

We run real estate business like  Amrut Tulya - a tea shop.

Buy milk, tea & sugar in the morning. Serve hot tea throughout the day. In the evening - clean the shop - collect the cash and go home. No stock. No inventory. Financial year - accounting year - starts every morning and ends every evening. One day company.

How can we buy land - or go for a development agreement with a land lord - and wait for 2 years to get an environmental clearance?

How can we afford not to start construction for 2 years?
We will die under the burden of interest!

You know what?
We can't even afford to wait till the plans are sanctioned.
As soon as we get land - we open pre-launch offer & start collecting interest free funds from the home buyers.

We run our business on property buyers money.

How can we survive for a year or two without getting interest free booking amount from the buyers?

Impossible.

We have to maintain our standard of living. Buy expensive cars, Go on foreign tours. Donate & sponsor to remain in the lime light. Invest in brand building.

We can't afford to waste time - 1 - 2 years - for obtaining environmental clearance. Time is money.

We can earn profit only if we work efficiently.

Efficient working means spending less time in planning the project

Spending less time in getting sanctions & approvals.

To get the things done in less time - we are happy to give under the table.

But under the table was not the standard business practice with the technical assessment committee for the environmental clearance.

Besides that the committee was wasting our time in discussing the detail planning of the infrastructural services in our project.

Stupid fellows!

Property buyers don't bother about renewable energy & carbon footprint.
What they all look for is the long list of specifications & amenities mentioned in the brochure.

In short, we realized that obtaining environmental clearance was not our cup of tea.

So, we all didn't wait for the environmental clearance. We all went ahead and launched the projects. Collected booking amount and started construction.

Result is property buyers forgot the sad days of world financial crisis and Pune real estate slowdown of 2007 - 2008 - 2009.

With every new launch we went on increasing the property rates. This price rise & new project launches created positive sentiments and  motivated the buyers to book a home and fulfil their life dream.

Every young first time home buyer was in the seventh heaven. It created bigger real estate boom than the IT boom of 2003 - 2007. Obviously, second home buyers, NRIs & investors started investing in Pune real estate market.

Looking at the rising prices - poor fellows started believing that Pune real estate market is very strong -  has great potential - and they can reap huge appreciation.

But the fact of the matter was - because of the greedy landowners -  we, Pune builders, were forced to hike the property price of every new project.  Because of the double digit inflation - we, Pune builders, were forced to hike the property price of every new project.

Dumb fellows - investors & home buyers - took it wrongly. Rising property prices - was not an appreciation of property. Rising property prices was the total effect of rising raw material prices - input costs - land, steel, cement, power, labour charges and all. Rising property prices were the total effect of land owners' greed & inflation.

In short, Pune builders didn't plan the rip off.
We just initiated the first move.

Everybody in his own capacity added the fuel.

Pune real estate market became very hot.
Property prices became irrational - exorbitant.

Rising property prices terrified the property buyers.

They became desperate to own a home.
At any price.
Without bothering the worth of property.
Without bothering about water supply, approach road, drainage system, power supply.

The property buyers themselves - ripped themselves off.
They swindled themselves.

Pune builders didn't run this scam.
If we were swindling - we would have the control.
We would not have allowed the property prices to go through the roof.
We would not have become a pimp of housing finance company and
accepted the 10 - 80 - 10 payment scheme.
You know? For a builder this offer is as good as becoming a slave of the bank!

Moral of the story is - Pune builders are not scamsters, swindlers & cheaters.
We are just small, dynamic, efficient, customer friendly builders.
What happened was just a normal business cycle of boom & bust.

4) Are Pune builders capable of developing sustainable townships?

Yes! Pune builders are capable. But the Maharashtra government is not.

In fact, for a long time, there was no governance in Maharashtra. No development in and around Pune.

In this situation, environment committee was  a farce.  Environmental clearance was a big joke. And poor Pune builders were told to take it seriously.

This technical assessment committee asked for the source of supply of drinking water.

Supply of drinking water for a 10 acre township in Wagholi?  Are you joking?

They compelled me to lie - Water supply from Gram Panchayat!

The stupid fellows liked the answer & asked me to submit a letter from the gram panchayat.

I called the Sarpanch. Told him to give me a letter. He said you write whatever you want - I will put my stamp on it.

Useless fellows in the committee didn't stop there. They visited the village and questioned the sarpanch about the water supply. The sarpanch said - What water? Which letter?

The committee refused to give environmental clearance to my project!

If water supply was the condition then - why did the town planning give the N A Order and sanction the plans?

If the flat buyers are ready to use, drink & pay for the tanker water - why should environmental committee have any objection?

Constructing dam is not my responsibility. Like a big shot politician, I don't have the capacity to fill that dam on my own.

The committee should have told the Government to construct the dam and supply the water to the people.

But - it told me not to construct the township!
This is unfair.
This committee is making people homeless.

If Wagholi is not suitable to develop housing - where should those property buyers go - who work in EON IT Park - and can't afford to own a home in Kharadi?

Question is not - about the capacity of Pune builders. Question is about the capacity of the committee. In housing industry - the committee doesn't know that - aspirations of the home buyers are more important than perfections in project planning. Said one builder.          

In 2015 - Where to book a flat in Pune real estate market?

Mr. Jitendra Pethkar of Pethkar Projects (www.pethkarprojects.com)

Talking to all these builders was the most painful & disgusting experience in my blogging career.

Now,  talking to builders who have started the construction only after obtaining the environmental clearance was the only remedy to feel better.

Fortunately, I didn't have to search. For the last two years - my neighbor - Mr. Jitendra Pethkar of Pethkar Projects (www.pethkarprojects.com) was sharing with me his experiences of obtaining environmental clearance for his latest project - Siyona at Punawale. So, I decided to talk to him.

In the next part of my blog, I will share his experiences with you. After reading his story, for sure, if you are planning to book a flat in 2015 - you will know where to invest in Pune real estate market & which documents you should check before booking a flat.

So, please,  visit my next blog on obtaining environmental clearance for Pethkar Projects' Siyona at Punawale.

Related Stories:

11) Pune real estate market has crashed - true or false?

10) Hunger Strike Against Illegal Construction in Pune

9) What is the future of the projects that have violated environment norms?

8) Pune Property Buyers,
Participate in Uposhan - Hunger Strike - Against
Gundaraj of Builders Politicians Bureaucrats Nexus
& Illegal Unauthorized Construction

On 9th December 2014, Opposite Collector Office Pune, Join Residents of Sphurti Aangan, Narhe Ambegaon and Participate in Hunger Strike:

7) List of Pune Builders Who Have Committed a Crime of Violation of Environmental Clearance Announced

6) Environmental Clearance for Housing Schemes - Facts & Fiction - Marathi Video

5) Beware of Pune Builders' Gang of Liars & Cheats

4) How builders in Pune are selling illegal housing projects & cheating property buyers

3) Violation of Environmental Clearance - Crime & Punishment

2) Living in an illegal building

1) Open University Offers Free Courses for Pune Home Buyers

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