Realty Bites: When depressed Mumbai builders took the extreme step

Raj Kandhari, a 44-year-old developer from Navi Mumbai, shot himself at his Sanpada home yesterday, and is critical. A look at two other recent instances of builders committing suicide due to depression.

Raj Kandhari

Director of Mohan Group commits suicide: Amar Bhatia (40), an Ulhasnagar-based builder, who used to live with his wife and 13-year-old son Ronit at Priya Apartment in front of Ulhasnagar Municipal Corporation, was found dead on railway tracks between Ambarnath and Badlapur in January this year.

Amar Bhatia

Amar was one of the directors of Mohan Group that had infrastructural projects across Kalyan, Ulhasnagar, Ambarnath, Badlapur, Pune and Goa. Sources from the building company said they were going to expand their project towards Thakurli and Dombivli also. He had also updated his status on social networking website Facebook on December 12 last year that said "Zindagi mazdoor hoti ja rahi hai, aur log seth bol kar tana marte hain" which suggests that he could have been depressed.

President of Thane builders' body shoots himself at sample flat: Fed up of the uncertainty looming over the completion of his projects, which had resulted in mounting financial losses, Suraj Ramesh Parmar, a reputed builder from Thane committed suicide in October 2015.

Suraj Parmar

The 45-year-old chairperson and managing director of the Cosmos Group, shot himself with his personal .32 calibre pistol in a sample bungalow at one of his upcoming projects in Kasarvadavli. Parmar - who was also president of Maharashta Chamber of Housing Industry (MCHI), Thane - left a 15-page suicide note, wherein he blamed red tape and non-payment of loans as primary reasons behind the drastic step.

Why builders in the city are taking their lives…
In the aftermath of Suraj Parmar committed suicide, builders across Mumbai and its outskirts blamed policy paralysis as the primary reason for Parmar taking the drastic step. Several builders claimed major policy changes were expected with the formation of a new government. But nothing has changed. They alleged that even the draft housing policy, proposing major reforms, has gone into cold storage.

Arvind Goel, MCHI-CREDAI president for the Navi Mumbai wing, said, "The situation is bad. Projects are stuck in limbo. While we were expecting better policies and governance from the new government, the ground reality hasn't changed a bit. While finance from banks has dried up, private borrowing is exorbitant. Our stakes in land have gone high due to escalating prices. To make matters worse, submitted files aren't being cleared on time. This has made situation precarious for the builders, and could soon force others to take the drastic step.