LOCAL BODY APPROVAL EXPECTED ANY TIME NOW !

Wish you all a Happy New Year 2011 !

True to the wishes, the New Year 2011 is going to be a very happy one for all of us. 

It is reliably learnt that the approval by the local body to our layout is expected anytime now.

With best wishes,

Blog team

Layout approval procedure

      Mr. Ravichandran, a plot owner in the Metro City Layout, has contributed to the blog with a very useful information.  He has provided a detailed write-up on the procedure for obtaining Layout approval.  This document  would help us in understanding the role and responsibilities of  the Society, the CMDA and the Municipality in the approval process.  At a time when we ponder about the various options available before us, including the legal option, to solve the approval issue, the material provided by Mr.Ravichandran would be of immense help to us.  We are thankful to Mr.Ravichandran for sharing this information with all the readers of this blog.  We welcome more such contribution from all.

Please click here to view the Procedure for obtaining Layout Approval.

Buyers and Sellers can also use this forum.

We come to know that some of the members want to sell their plots.  It is true that if they could wait for some more time they could sell at better rates once the issue of approval is settled.  However, some of the members, may be due to their commitments, are willing to sell their plots and are floating news.  We welcome those people to post their offer in this blog, so that interested parties could respond to the offer.  They can also mail their offer to : chennai.metro.city@gmail.com.  We are also getting queries from some individuals expressing their willingness to buy plots in our layout.  So, we feel that this forum would be useful for both the buyers and the sellers.

With best wishes,

Blog team

What is the impact of the decision of the Municipality?

Despite our pleadings with the Municipal officials, the approval for the layout has not been granted.  Instead, the Municipality has passed a resolution to return the Plan to CMDA for renewal/revision.  First, we need to ascertain from the Municipal sources if the Plan has actually been sent to CMDA, as the resolution was passed on 8th April, 2010 itself.  If it has, in fact, been sent to the CMDA, we need to contact the officials there and know its status. 

The Society can no longer shirk away its responsibility.  They have sold the plots to over 400 members without obtaining the local body's approval.  The ultimate responsibility rests with them.  It is for them to take up the issue with CMDA and the Municipality to resolve the issue at the earliest.  Because of their acts, we have all been suffering, not able to construct houses in the plots owned by us.  Day after day, the cost of construction is going up and those of us who live in rented places have to shell out rents in lakh every year.  Because of the Society's inaction, we have been deprived of so many things.

  1. The neighbouring site of VGN, which was selling at Rs.5 lakhs per ground, when our plots were offered for Rs.4 lakhs, is now selling in the range of Rs.35-40 lakhs.  But what is the present value of our plot?

  2.  Had the Society done the project properly and obtained all the necessary approvals, many of us would have constructed houses there.  Assuming that we have been paying an average rent of Rs.1 lakh per annum during the last 8 years, we have lost about 8 lakhs towards paying rent unnecessarily, which amount could have, as well, been used towards construction of house.

  3.  The cost of construction have more than trebled over the last 8 years. 

  4.  It's not that only those who wanted to construct houses in the plots are hit.  Those of us who had invested in the plots with a horizon of 4-5 years in mind with a plan to use the sale proceeds for higher education of children, giving daughters in marriage, a peaceful retired life, medical expenses etc.,  are also badly hit and are undergoing mental agony.

We need to make the Society to understand our problems and to take immediate action to solve the issue, else we will rake up the issue at various levels and make the people accountable.

Let's not wait any longer.  We need to take urgent action. Let's join together for getting our rights.

With best wishes,

Blog team

Plan returned by Municipality to CMDA

As reported in the last post, the problem of approval is getting delayed.  It is reliably learnt that the Municipality on April 8th, 2010 itself has adopted a resolution to return the plan to CMDA to revise/renew the plan approval given by the body and to make a revised demand once the revised/renewed plan is received from the CMDA. 

Is this true?  The society says the issue will be resolved soon.  But how soon?.  We,  around 500 plot owners of this layout have been languishing for 8 years now.  Who is responsible for this?  We have been so far hearing replies from the society as, "we are trying to solve the issue", "the issue would be resolved soon" etc., and by now we must be well aware that all these are only empty talks and nothing is happening on the field to our favour.

We need to introspect, regroup and act on a clearly set path. 

So,  what we need to do first?.

   1.  We have to enrol as many members as possible into the association.  A special drive should be taken for this and small groups can be formed for various areas and the group members can approach the plot owners in person, if we don't have their contact phone numbers.  We shall apprise them of the issue and enrol them into the association.  We need more members as the association would need more money for its efforts to resolve the issue.

 

   2.  The association needs to be vibrant and active.  We need to conduct E.C. meeting atleast once in a month.  They need to discuss the progress and motivate others in the fight.  They need to be in constant touch with the members and apprise them of the activities and progress.  We can also post the latest development in a website.  If the association wants, I am ready to post the news given by them in this blog.

 

  3.  Mr.Bharath had taken efforts to start a Yahoo groups for our members.  But I don't know why many of the plot owners have not joined it.  I'm sure he would have got the email id details from the association and would have mailed them about the Yahoo groups. We need a forum to putforth our views.  Many may not be able to find time to participate in the meetings.  Atleast they will have an opportunity to see the views expressed by others and they can also express their views in this blog or in the yahoo groups.  That was the intention behind which this blog was started several months earlier, even before the formation of the association.  We're happy that many have been seeing the posts in this blog and mailing us.

 

4.  Only persons who can share some of their valuable time for this social work should be in the core team of the association.  There is no meaning if we have an association which is not pro-active.  Is the association aware of the development posted in this blog?  If so, what action has been taken by them.  Is it not an irony that while we had been discussing in the AGM on 20th of April 2010 about the steps to be taken to convince the local body to give the approval, they had already passed a resolution for returning the plan approval to CMDA.  The people who matter in the association have to be vibrant and active.  It will, in turn, enthuse the cadres and we can see some progress.  So, let's first set our house right.

 

5.  Let's then chalk out an action plan to fight for our rights.

 

6.  There are other activities which we need to do parallely, which we have been stressing in our earlier posts too.  Our place needs to be protected first and foremost.  There is no meaning in having the approval on hand but by that time, our layout becomes a dumpyard.  I don't understand why the association, despite several such appeals made to them even during the last two AGMs fail to act on this account.  We must work for the welfare of the entire layout.  We have to nip the problems in the bud.  We have to meet the Muncipality officials, Councillor and people who matter, in person, and request them to take action against dumping of waste, removal of soil etc.  We should send them letters also.   Only if we show that we are concerned, people will act, as the old saying goes, "Azhum kuzhandaikku dhan paal kidaikkum". Yes it is true.

  

We can do a lot if we are together.  Every great achievment and big thing had a small beginning only.  Only the drops of rain form a river and a Ocean.  If we stand united and fight for our rightful cause untiringly, we will succeed soon.

With best wishes,

 

Blog team

So Near ... yet So Far !!! Is it a case of slip between the cup and the lip?

It has been more than 3 months since the last post was published in this site.  Too many things have happened in this too short a period.

Though I wanted to update the happenings in this blog as and when it happened, the way things were moving in a roller-coaster, I thought it would be wise to wait for things to settle down before posting the news in the blog.

Now things appear to have settled down. But, at the end, it seems all is not well.  I hate to utter such words.  But that appears to be the reality.  We appear to have gone back to square one and if that is the case, we need to pull up our socks, gather all our resources and get into serious action to wage a final battle to get our rights.

So, what has happened in the last 3 months?

Thanks to the untiring efforts of our lieutenants, Mr.Sridhar, Mr.Michael Jeyaseelan, who met various officials at Muncipal Administration, Municipality, Society and other places, the Society paid up Rs.1,15,90,170/- to Thiruverkadu Municipality.  Though orders were issued by the Registrar (Housing) to this effect on 23.1.10, it took some time for the Society to actually send the cheque for the said amount to the Municipality.  In the last blog (posted on 2.2.10) it was reported that the Society was expected to make the payment to the Muncipality by next week (i.e., 2nd week of Feb) and the approval process by the local body should be over within a month, hopefully.  Yes, as reported, the Society did send the cheque to the Municipality in the 2nd week of Feb, on 11.2.2010.  But the hope expressed about the approval process by Municipality to be over within a month's time remained a hope for ever.

In the meantime, full fledged efforts were taken by the Association, which in effect, was mainly the efforts taken by Mr.Sridhar and Mr.Michael Jeyaseelan and also Mr.Shantaram to meet the people concerned in the Commissionerate of Municipal Administration, Municipality, Society and other people who have a say in the affairs to get the approval of the Municipality.  The duo had even led a handful of people to meet the Chairman of the Municipality in his home during the last week of March to putforth the grievances of the plot owners of the layout, in person, to the Chairman.  The Chairman was gracious enough to give a patient hearing despite his tight schedule.  The Chairman appreciated our pleadings for early approval but expressed his inability to give any commitment on the affirmative action.

However, people were very positive that we would not be disappointed when a decision is taken on the approval issue.  Soon, it appeared that all was not well and the Municipality may not grant its approval any sooner.  The Association was contacted to convene an urgent meeting either of the Executive Members or an extraordinary AGM to discuss the issues and to take suitable action.  AGM was, thus held on 25.4.2010, though belatedly, considering that the meeting with the Chairman was held on the last week of March.  At the end of a real democratic (or was it dramatic?!) discussion, a few pertinent points were raised for effective functioning of the Association.  We'll discuss those issues separately in our next post.  For now, the result appears to be hanging in balance.  Though we want to be optimistic, the naked reality laughs at us.  Though the Society gives us a rosy picture, when contacted, saying that the issue would be resolved sooner, our reliable sources indicate that we may end up losing the battle now, though not the war.   

The latest we hear is that the Municipality may drag the issue again and we may not get the long-awaited approval in the immediate future.

Let's hope for the best!

- Blog team

DECKS CLEARED FOR APPROVAL BY LOCAL BODY, ATLAST!

It's always nice to share good news.

We have, atlast, got the good news we have been so eagerly waiting thus far. Yes. The Registrar of Co-operatives has given direction to the Society to pay up Rs.1.15 crores to the local body. This direction has been given by the Registrar vide letter dated 23.01.2010. It appears that the Society would make the payment by next week to the local body and the approval would be given by the local body shortly. We can expect the approval process to be over in a maximum period of 1 month time, hopefully.

It is a success for all of us. Congratulations to all of you. First of all, the Association deserves kudos for their sincere efforts taken for exerting pressure on the society and for impressing upon various officials to achieve this. Our congratulations to the Secretary of the Association, Mr.Vasudevan and his team. The duo of Mr.Sridhar and Mr.Michael too have played a big role in achieving this and they deserve our special congratulations. We would like to thank the former Special Officer, Mr.Jayapalan, Manager, Mr. Jayakumar and the present Special Officer and all the well-wishers in the Society. Our thanks also goes to the Registrar, without whose efforts, this issue would have dragged for ever.

We wanted the society to pay up the dues to the local body and we got what we wanted. The next step is to follow up with the society and the local body to get the approval at the earliest. This once done, what else the association can do for the betterment of the area. We had in our earlier post mentioned about the dumping of waste taking place in our layout with pictures and warned that unless and until we take immediate steps to find out the elements and make the area neat, more such will follow. We would have been happy had we been wrong on this account. Alas! But happened? No perciptible action on our association's part resulted in more dumping of waste, this time chemical/industrial waste in our area. Again the photographs are there for you all to see.

We need to rise up. It's time to act. Now that we are close to getting local body's approval. We need to have a vision to make it one of the landmarks of the locality. We have listed here the tasks that can be taken up by the Association. We can prioritise the works. The important tasks that have to be taken up immediately. Others can wait till some developments take place. Members’ suggestions for development are most welcome.

1. Task: First and foremost step is to enrol all the plot owners of Metro City to become members of the Association.
 How to get it done: As proposed by one of the enterprising members of the association in the recently held AGM, we can gather the addresses of all the plot owners from the society and segregate it area-wise and give 5 addresses to each member of the association who resides in that area to go, personally meet the plot owners and convince them to join the association.

2. Task: To take effective steps to remove the plastic and industrial waste from the site.
 How to get it done: Enquiries with the neighbourhood indicate that the chemical residue/waste have been dumped in the site by a local politician. It was informed by our sources that the waste would be removed shortly by the person, once it gets dried up there. The association can meet the local councillor and the municipal authorities and request them to take immediate steps to clear it and to prevent any such acts in future. If no steps are taken in a mutually agreed time frame, we can resort to agitative methods like inviting press and organising demonstration in front of the municipal authoirities.

3. Task: To clear the bushes and to put up a warning message in the site entrance.
 How to get it done: As of now, our layout doesn’t look like a residential layout. As we have mentioned in our earlier post, if a place is full of bushes, it is difficult to control others from dumping waste there. On the other hand, if we keep the area neat and clean, it would definitely deter people from dumping waste in the site. In fact, when the issue was brought to the notice of the society authorities, they were telling that the plot owners should have taken care of the site and if they have not taken care of their area, how can we expect it from others. True.

But it would be difficult for the invidividual plot owners to clear the bushes in their plot. Many of the owners may not be living in Chennai now. In other cases, even if they are in Chennai, it might be difficult for them to find time to visit the site in person, engage people for cleaning the area. However, as it is a common issue affecting the entire layout, the Association can engage some labourers to clear the bushes in the entire site and put a message of warning at the entrance against dumping. Cost wise too, the total cost to clear the entire site would be cheaper than the total cost incurred by the individual owners on his plot.

4. Task: To lay bounday stones for all the plots and numbering of the plots.
 How to get it done: Most of the plots do not have boundary stones. The members find it very difficult to identify their plots and even if they identify the approximate location, it is difficult to know the exact boundaries. In a meeting held by the society with the Association and the developer in 2008/09, the issues of laying of roads and boundary stones in the site was discussed and the developer, Mr.Rajan, though, was not ready to lay the roads, had promised to put in place the boundary stones. The Association can now take up the issue again with the society and the developer to get the boundary stones laid with plot numbers. If, for some reasons, this can not be got done through the developer, then the Association itself has to get it done, considering its importance.

5. Task: To name the roads and streets in the layout.
 How to get it done: The major roads and streets do not have names. We need to take steps now itself to name the streets, as people would start construction soon. It is better to name the roads and streets with numbers like 1st Main Road, 5th Street etc., just as in well-developed posh areas like Adyar, KK Nagar, etc., as this will help in locating the streets easier than naming it with leader’s names.

6. We also need to put up a Board at the entrance with a map of the layout with street names and plot numbers to identify the plots easily.

7. To put name boards at the road/street beginnings with the street/road name and the plot numbers in that road/street.
8. To plant avenue trees in roads/streets
9. To develop the parks

The tasks at 1 to 5 need to be taken up immediately and those at 6 to 9 can be taken up in due course of time.

We should take all possible steps to make it a pleasant place to live. For that we should be innovative and have open mind to accept new suggestions. There are many NGOs like Exnora International and others from whom we can learn get help in getting plant saplings etc.,. We can adopt the Exnora’s idea of collecting garbage from the households and placing bins at streets instead of depending entirely on local government. We can set example and make others to follow our model.

This area would be coming under the Chennai Corporation from 2011 onwards which would help in getting amenities like road, drainage, drinking water etc., faster. Let's start planning now itself.

So, Let’s be the trendsetter. Best wishes and congratulations to all who fought for and those who helped in solving the local body approval issue.

with best regards,

Raj