BENGALURU: It was a carnival atmosphere at H M Tambourine residential complex on the Kanakapura Main Road in Bengaluru when the demolition of the Supertech Twin Towers in Noida got underway on Sunday. The 240 families residing in this posh apartment in J P Nagar Vth Phase have been grappling with a similar issue and had approached the High Court five years ago seeking justice.
A small gathering of residents took part in a cake-cutting ceremony which had the words `Justice always prevails’ to celebrate the illegal structures being razed down.
Speaking on behalf of the residents, Abdul Aleem, a homeowner and president of Changemakers of Kanakapura, told TNIE, “We were handed over our flats in 2007 with space left for constructing small commercial complexes enveloped by greenery left vacant. Our apartment has four towers with a total of 240 houses. In 2017, H M Builders had approached BDA and got the plan modified so that they could construct two additional towers in the vacant space.”
Stunned apartment owners filed a case against the Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) the same year for approving the plan. The case is still going on.
The Builder began construction work too without seeking the consent of house owners, Aleem said.
“The original plan handed over to house owners has been violated. In addition to that, the towers are built at just a distance of 8 metres from our present towers. Building rules mandate a 16-metre distance,” he charged.
The bigger issue is that the common area is our apartment complex was to be equally shared between all the owners.
“That has completely shrunk for all of us now as 120 more flats will come up. Many hearings have taken place in connection with our case and we are still waiting for justice,” he said.
The builder, meanwhile, has completed ten floors in the new towers, called H M Crescendo. However, it looks like none of the houses have been sold.
“We have put up boards all over stating it was under litigation to caution potential buyers. This incident at Noida has offered us all hope and we are praying and hoping for a similar verdict for us,” Aleem said.
The builder could not be reached for comment.