Caught Between the Devil and Deep Sea- maybe just an adage, but it aptly defines the sorry situation of 233 families of Gaurav Enclave in the Hatkesh area of Kashimira, who were rendered homeless after gaping cracks were noticed between the wings of the decade-old buildings in 2013.
Neither has the construction firm -Ravi Developments been able to honour the commitment of delivering the redevelopment project in three years' time, nor fulfilled the promise of monthly recompense (rent) till the building came up. To add to the woes of the hapless residents, around 50 people led by Asif Mansuri in an attempt to take possession recently barged into the premises of the under-construction project, with claims that the land on which the building stood belonged to his master- Anjum Patel.
Mansuri claimed that the court had issued an order in favour of Patel and his associate landowners. Based on a complaint registered by the builder, the Kashimira police registered an offence under sections 448,143,144 and 149 of the IPC against – Anjum, Mansuri and 50 other yet-to-be-identified people. Officer bearers of the housing society also approached the police seeking action against the trespassers.
However, no arrests have been made so far into the case. Notably, the families had been living in the buildings since 20o0 and the society was formed in 2002. “The order on the virtue of which Patel claims ownership is itself declared null and void by the civic judge in his order on 28, February 2013. The residents and the housing society is the absolute owner of the property for more than 15 years,” claimed RTI activist- Imitiaz Shaikh who also stayed in the building.
“We are caught between the devil and the deep sea-First the builder delayed the project and stopped compensating for transit accommodation. Now attempts are being made to create a third party interest which may spell doom for us. This is nothing but sheer torture and harassment.” said another resident who was forced to migrate to his village in Rajasthan as he neither had an alternative place to live nor could he afford rental accommodation in the suburbs. While the proposed date of project completion has been revised till 31, Dec-2021, the construction is taking place but at a snail's pace.
