Middle class people who want to buy a house, or an apartment, in towns and cities are often cheated by unscrupulous builders with false promises and left high and dry after they have paid huge sums of money.
There is enormous delay in project completion and the builder often asks for more money from the buyers for finishing it and handing over the house or apartment. The victms then move the consumer fora or the courts for redressal of their grievances.
But it is very rarely that a Government organisation - or semi-Government organisation - finds itself in that position.
The Visakhapatnam Urban Development Authority (VUDA) is right now in such a spot and the victims of the much-touted Harita mega housing project (a Singapore-type township) took to streets here on Sunday to make the public aware of their plight.
Gan Bhukta, President of the VUDA Harita Allottees' Assoication, said here on Sunday that the VUDA had come up with the project some four years ago to build a Singapore-type mega housing project, christened Harita, at Madhurawada here and invited applications from the public.
A sum of Rs 120 crore was collected by the VUDA from middle class and lower middle class allottees, for the LIG (lower income group), MIG (middle income group) and HIG (high income group) flats and houses and the project was awarded to a Singapore company, Jurong.
The company started work on the project and subsequently there were differences between the company and the VUDA, and the contract was terminated.
Even at that time, said Gan Bhukta, the VUDA had given promises to the allottees that the project would be completed and "now the VUDA is demanding more money, citing cost escalation. The VUDA Vice-chairman has said that the additional cost of Rs 45 crore or so should be borne equally by the allottees and the VUDA."
He said no such proposal was acceptable to the Harita allottees and the VUDA should complete the project within the next 18 months, as promised, sticking to all the norms of construction and maintaining good quality. Otherwise, the agitaion would be intensified.
Many of the Harita victims narrated their woes and said they were unable to pay EMIs to the banks and at the same time pay house rents. They said they were on the verge of bankruptcy and they blamed the VUDA for it. They wanted swift action from the VUDA authorities.