The recent fire in the AMRI Hospital, which led to the loss of many lives, isn't the only instance of one of its promoters, the Shrachi group, being under the scanner. A prominent Kolkata-based group, it has vast interests in real estate and hospitality.
Take the instance of its ‘Rosedale' condominiums, spread over 16 acres in Kolkata's satellite township, New Town. The $100 million (over Rs 500 crore at current exchange rate) complex was proposed to be a showpiece real estate complex, promising swanky luxury apartments in six ‘ground-plus-25' skyscrapers. The open-to-terrace apartments were priced between Rs 50 lakh and 1 crore each.
Nearly four years down the line, the project remains a story of shattered dreams and broken promises.
Petition
According to a petition filed (case no 240 of 2010) before the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission, New Delhi, 59 buyers, mostly NRIs, who were provisionally allotted apartments, allege non-delivery of the apartments well beyond the scheduled time frame of 36 months ending in 2010.
It is alleged that the developer has “unilaterally' flouted agreements, made several amendments to the master plan of the project, leading to even violation of fire safety norms and reduction of common service areas for which payments were already received.
Home buyers say Rosedale built an additional 10-storey tower – having 80-100 apartments – in the promised common area, whose “interest has already been sold to the initial buyers” of the project. The petition also accuses the promoter of “premature money claims by furnishing false certificates.” Some of the petitioners claimed to have already paid 90 per cent of the committed sum.
According to the report of a Calcutta High Court approved valuer and licensed building surveyor, Mr Monojit De, appointed by the petitioners to look into the alleged anomalies; common areas and promised amenities to the buyers that include quarters for domestic helps, swimming pools and tennis courts were either reduced in size or removed.
There was an “infringement of the mandatory car parking space” rule. There were also deviations in the quality of promised building materials. The petition has demanded a total compensation claim of over Rs 17 crore.
Company mum
Repeated attempts to get Shrachi officials to comment on the alleged violations yielded no results. Mr Rahul Todi, Managing Director of Shrachi and head of Rosedale, could not be reached. Attempts to get in touch with the corporate communications department of the Shrachi Group also failed to yield results.
Rosedale, in fact, is the second project aimed at attracting NRI buyers to have reportedly run into trouble after Mr Prasoon Mukherjee promoted Kolkata West International City (KWIC), the first real estate project in the state to attract FDI.
KWIC developers too face similar allegations of non-delivery of apartments costing up to Rs 1 crore each on time and violation of agreements with buyers.