Mumbai: Where are our new homes, ask Tarique Garden survivors

Tarique Garden, a ground plus five storey residential building in Mahad, collapsed on August 24, 2020

Two years ago on this day (August 24), Tarique Garden, a ground plus five storey residential building in Mahad, collapsed, claiming 16 lives and injuring nine others. The survivors are still reeling under the impact as they are left without a roof over their heads as they cannot construct a new building on the plot unless the plot owner gives his consent. The worst part, however, is that the insurance companies rejected the flat owner's insurance claims on the grounds that the crash was a ‘man made disaster' and ‘not a natural calamity'.

And yet, some residents still continue paying EMIs for the home loans they took. Amjad Hawa Vahoor, a 45-year-old businessman, had taken a loan of R10 lakh from SBI for his 980-sq feet 2BHK flat. He said, "I paid EMIs to the bank till March this year, even after the building crashed. I have finally cleared the dues, but don't have a house."

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Residents' woes

Vahoor said, "Tarique Garden was constructed merely seven years ago before the crash. Of the total of 40 flats in two wings, 32 flats were sold while the remaining eight were in possession of the plot owner Razak Shaikh. But neither the land owner nor Mumbra-based Farooq Qazi of M/s Kohinoor Developers, which constructed the building, listened to our pleas about falling plasters and shoddy construction work. They did not even pay heed to our request to form a society."

The plot, where the building once stood, currently lies empty

Jasmine Bamne, another flat owner, said, "It has been two years since the collapse. We were fortunate to have survived the mishap, but did not get any compensation or financial aid from the government or the builder. In fact, the builder was out of jail for nearly a year during COVID but did not bother to reconstruct Tarique Garden. We are left to heal our wounds by ourselves, with no assistance whatsoever."

Speaking about Qazi, the builder, Vahoor said, "It was only after residents raised their concerns and objected to his release, that Qazi was arrested a month ago. The land owner's son Yunus has been in jail since his arrest."

Society formed post crash

Vahoor said, "It is unfortunate that when our building stood tall for seven years our request to form a society was never acknowledged. Had our society been formed then, we would have completed reconstruction by now. However, the owners came together after the collapse and decided to form a society on our own. The district deputy registrar of Alibag had seen merit in our plea and got our society M/s Tarique Garden CHS Ltd registered just a few months ago."

Vahoor, who is currently the president of the society, said that unless the land owner consents to reconstruction, there is no way out. "We are pursuing the matter, but do not know how long it would take to convince Razak Shaikh, as his son is in jail. The residents have filed a complaint before the Consumer Dispute Redressal Forum too, and the matter is pending," he said.

Way out

Advocate Shreeprasad Parab, expert director, State Housing Federation, said, "Ownership means a bundle of all the rights and liabilities in the property. Sale of flat/shop generally means transfer of ownership which is complete when the Sale Deed is executed and registered under the provisions of the Registration Act, 1908. It is obligatory on the developer to form a co-operative housing society or any other legal entities of allottees within a period of three months from which the majority of allottees have booked the flat."

"Similarly, the developer has to transfer his rights in the property by executing conveyance deed within three months from the date of Occupancy Certificate. If the developer fails to do the same, the allottees can exercise their rights to form a society without cooperation from the developer," he said, adding, "In such a case, where the society is already formed, then the allottees can themselves apply for deemed conveyance to district deputy registrar of cooperative societies and take right of the land and reconstruct the building through self-redevelopment, without any permission or authorisation from the existing developer."

16
No. of people killed in the collapse