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Double whammy!
Chandigarh periphery builders go panicky as rising EMIs combined with change of land use
imbroglio hit them hard, says Pradeep Sharma
The recent decision of the Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB) to cancel the change of land use (CLU) of prominent builders on Chandigarh’s periphery, following interim decision of the Punjab and Haryana High Court has sent builders, investors and end-users in a tizzy. The decision, coming with the change of guard in Punjab with the assumption of office by the Parkash Singh Badal led SAD-BJP government in the state, has virtually put a question mark over the status of investment in the real estate market amounting to hundreds of crores of rupees in the periphery. In fact, the decision has spread panic among the investors and builders alike with the real estate industry fearing a cascading affect on the onoging projects. Sources said the major realtors, including those whose CLU has been cancelled, have put the residential and commercial projects on hold. “We are adopting a wait-and-watch policy as we cannot risk the huge investments at a time when uncertainty and confusion ruled the roost,” a Delhi-based realtor says. Interestingly, the onset of 2007 has brought bad news for the real estate industry and the investors, already passing through the “correctional phase” bordering on recession. “I invested my entire life’s savings to make fast buck. However, general recession and the cancellation of the CLU has put the money at risk,” rues SK Sharma, who had booked two flats in Dera Bassi. To top it, housing EMIs have also spiralled upwards sending the household budget into a tailspin. Another investor, on the condition of anonymity, said with the prices of the essential commodities virtually getting out of reach, hard times are ahead for investors. In fact, serious doubts are being expressed over the fate of even existing projects with the Badal government yet to make up its mind over the mega projects policy of the previous Capt Amarinder Singh government, he alleged. With supply outstripping demand in the wake of the construction of thousands of multi-storeyed flats, the buyers are clearly missing from the market. In fact, the offices of the property consultants and the real estate companies are flooded with the investors making a beeline for selling their flats. However, the builders, fighting with their back to the wall against the government and the recession, are pinning hopes on the government and the high court decision. The coming months when the Punjab government settles down should see a real estate market back on track, realtors hoped. Sunil Bandha, director of the Zirakpur-based ONS Builders, said the real estate was an emerging area in India and the government should give incentives rather than “create” hurdles in its development. “An upsurge in the real estate prices would benefit state’s economy and its benefits would ultimately percolate down to the common man,” Bandha claimed. Another prominent builder Baldev Goel said the authorities concerned should help the builders come out of the CLU imbroglio. The environmental concern is okay but the housing needs also need to taken care of in the interest of justice and providing housing to the common man, which is a basic necessity, he added.
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Sour loans
Realty loans, once attractive for banks across the country, are now turning sour as a whole as non-performing assets (NPAs) start to mount.
The runaway growth in housing loans over the last few years has played a major part in worsening bank’s asset liability maturity mismatch. The deterioration in the asset- liability match is even forcing some banks to consider scaling down the exposure to long-term loans. Housing, which on one hand is a key driver of economic growth and a basic necessity of life on the other, will be hit the hardest. Housing loan cost over the past one year has gone up by 4 to 5 per cent points. This combined with a sharp increase in the real estate price, has virtually shattered the dream of the middle-class to own a house. Moreover, a slowdown can negatively affect other sector and adversely affect employment. This will further cause a huge pile up of non-performing assets. Following a sudden increase in the CRR, banks were forced to increase lending rates, including home loans. Public sector banks have combined share of around 33 per cent in home loans. Under the current regulations if the debt service payments are overdue for more than 90 days, the loans automatically become NPAs. A substantial chunk of the NPAs has started coming from organised builders/developers, large housing projects and home loans cases. The situation is similar in almost all public sector banks and private sector banks in the country. The position is almost not so comfortable for foreign banks. A steep increase in the home loan rates over the last two years have also contributed to the deterioration in asset books of the bankers. Bankers fear that home loan delinquencies are likely to mount, especially for floating rate loan. The total NPAs in housing sector in increasing every year. It was 3 per cent in 2004 and increased to 5 per cent in 2005 and 8 to 9 per cent in 2006 and it is bound to increase further. Banks, in fear of increasing NPA levels, have now started extending the period of maturity from 15 to 20 years and 20 years to 25 years so that a lesser percentage of home loan become NPAs. It may prove to be dangerous in the long run. Banks are feeling maturity mismatch more acutely now because of the high growth in housing loans. Housing loan typically have an average maturity period of 10 years.
The writer is a senior banker
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Pinching instalments
While the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has tightened the money condition to contain inflation, the Finance Ministry has asked “public sector banks to have a re-look at the continued high credit growth in the sensitive sectors and take necessary steps for rebalancing overall credit portfolio.” According to RBI data, lending by commercial banks to the sensitive sector rose 75 per cent in 2005-06 over the previous year. Floating home loan rates are up from 7 per cent in 2004-05 to over 11 per cent now and the fixed rates are touching around 12.5 per cent. With rise in interest rates, the EMIs are either up by over Rs 4,000 on a 20-year loan of Rs 15 lakh, or the number of instalments have increased. Such a rise is certainly going to have an impact on real estate market in India, which was reaping the windfall of a strong economy. Higher EMIs and low liquidity may lead to a drop in property rates, as the prospective buyers plan to postpone their decision to buy a home. Gulam Zia, national director for advisory services, Knight Frank (India) Pvt Ltd, says current market prices are on a peak and interest rates jacking up. It will be prudent to wait and watch before you buy a house. Sandeep Goel, MD, MSX Developers says such steep increase in interest rate “is unhealthy for the real estate sectors and will discourage investment in the sector”. He says the government’s policy measures indicate that the interest rate is expected to go up further by 1 per cent. “The government should handle this sector more sophisticatedly, otherwise this can lead to financial loss for many end-users,” Goel adds. Apart from buyers, the worst-hit are the small and medium players. Most of them do not have the capacity to buy land; so they either take it on long-term leases or borrow money to acquire it. Hence, they will be forced to complete projects even if they are unable to sell the individual properties in projects. They have to repay loans or pay lease rentals, and recover the expenditure they incur. These will be the first ones to start offering massive discounts to potential buyers. Property analyst, Niranjan says with property prices at peak and further hike in interest rate rise is going to impact the market. This could result in a drop in property rates, as prospective buyers think about postponing their decision. “However, I don’t expect a correction of more than 10 per cent," he says. He says the next two months are crucial for the market. The volumes have almost dried up in recent times. Mid-April to mid-June is traditionally a period for real estate purchases and all developers are anxiously waiting for the buying to begin this season. If it does not happen, see how prices will fall. They may not fall directly. Developers may give freebies such as free parking space, paying stamp duties on behalf of purchasers, even paying a part of the EMI. They will not directly reduce the prices, as it may encourage customers, who had purchased earlier, to stop paying further. Satish Gupta, CMD, Natraj Builders, says increased interest rate will lead to sector opting more towards FDI. A number of companies have already started looking at this option for there forthcoming projects. The government has also done away with countervailing duty of 16 per cent and additional duty of 4 per cent on cement. The import cut means that the landed cost of imported cement should now fall by about Rs 30 to around Rs 215 per 50-kg bag. Will there be correction in prices at a time when the country is emphasising on infrastructural growth. It seems that the correction will vary from property to property. If a property is located in a place where good infrastructure has come up or is expected to come up in near future then the correction will be marginal. The rest may see a higher reduction. Value proposition will also decide the correction in prices.
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Welfare scheme for Gurgaon
Ravi S. Singh comes across a proposal to set up 1 lakh economically weaker section units
The implementation of the project also has the potential to adversely affect the business of the land mafia, who often collude with a section of the bureaucracy and local politicians. In essence, it is being billed as a welfare housing scheme. The proposal has been sent by the local unit of Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA) at the headquarters for government’s consideration. The proposal is to set up one lakh EWS units, each measuring 200 sq ft, as per the state government’s EWS norms. As per the proposal, the project would be set up in various sectors of Gurgaon, depending upon the surplus availability of land to give “walk to work” support facilities to every residential and industrial sector. However, the thrust would be to provide bigger concentrations near the industrial sectors/ existing slums to decongest the city. The decongestion takes into account the choking of roads as the workforce presently employed in various industrial units comes from far off places from their workstations making use of transport, which puts burden on road infrastructure. The spread of the proposed EWS locations would also take into account the infrastructure and support services availability peculiar to the location or a sector. In all, 315 acres of land will be needed to set up the project. The salient feature is that there will be no monetary cost that will be borne by HUDA or the government. The mechanics worked out has been such that the entire cost of setting up the project will be borne by the developers. The proposal emphasises that reputed developers should be invited to give in minimum bid in response to tenders floated for the development of the facility. For every acre of development of land, developers should be given 20 per cent of the floor area ratio (FAR) to be developed as commercial space, which they can market and sell. Rest 80 per cent of the area to be developed as the EWS housing should be a part of the same project, which will be the property of the government and can be allotted to the leasee in whichever way the government deems fit. The cost of the housing will be borne by the builder out of the revenues generated by the sale of the commercial space developed. The project report illustrates the mechanics as such — presuming that the developer sells the commercial development at the present market rate of Rs 6,000 per sq ft and builds it an average rate of Rs 1,000 per sq ft., there will be a surplus of Rs 5,000 per sq ft, which can be used to finance the development of the housing scheme as well as the profit percentage of the developer. The Project Report also puts forward an alternative in the form of “lease economic” whereby HUDA can directly build the units and lease it to lessees. The recovery may be made through “deferred” lease amounts. Within this scope, there could be direct allotment by the government to different strata of the society. It make gradations of society in “below poverty line (income below Rs 2,500 per month or rehabilitation of slum dwellers and squatters), income between Rs 2,500 and Rs 3,500 per month and income between Rs 3,500 and Rs 10,000 per month (for bonafide industrial workers and class III/IV staff/other categories falling between Rs 3,500 and Rs 10,000 per month income) for purpose of allotment.” Allotment to the section of the society where family income is less than Rs 2,500 per month can be done at a lease of Rs 100 per month. For the family having monthly income bracket between Rs 2,500 and Rs 3,500, allotment may be done a lease rate of Rs 1,000 per month. For family income above Rs 3,500 to Rs 10,000 per month, the allotment could be done at a lease rate of Rs 1,8000 per month. The punch line of the project is that the lease rental will service the principal as well as the interest per month for “bonafide occupancy” of 15 years by the beneficiary family. Continued occupancy and payment of regular instalments will make the allottee freehold owner of the apartment after 15 years since it pays off in full for basic price of dwelling units as well as the interest payable to the financial institutions. The conditions of allotment will ensure that the beneficiaries must not have any other residential property in spouse’s name. First preference will be given to persons residing or working in Haryana. However, preference will also be given to the working population and those locals who have been the residents of Gurgaon for the past three years.
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ACs that gel with interiors
Saurabh Malik talks about beautiful cooling solutions for homes
As the temperatures mount steadily, the heat is on among the consumer-goods manufacturers to provide with elegant cooling solutions for ‘hot’ apartments of your dreams. For converting your house into a stylish chill out zone, they have come out with prêt-collection of “stunningly beautiful range” of air-conditioners not just with anti-bacterial filters, but also mirror finish that promise to reflect class and light up interiors. You also have ceiling-mounted cassette air-conditioners that lend an air of sophistication to the living room. In refrigerators also, you have products that gel with the décor of your dining room or even with open kitchens. One look at these hi-fi refrigerators with drawers, and you relegate all other options to cold storage. “Unlike the past, the emphasis this time is not just on providing with low-power consuming, super efficient and convenient powerful machines with a host of unmatched features, but also on style,” says Hitachi’s Senior Executive Area Manager (Solutions and Corporate Sales) Sudeep Bhatia. “No wonder, the manufacturers have come out with not just answers to all cooling problems, but with solutions for a new lifestyle.” Keeping up with the trends, almost all manufacturers are offering new features and designs in split ACs. “The consumers in India are gradually, but certainly, moving towards split ACs,” says a Samsung official. “While the split ACs accounted for about 46 per cent of sales in 2006, the number is expected to go up to 50 per cent by the end of this year.” Hitachi is offering ACs that are not just “at the cutting edge of innovation and technology”, but also have “spectacular physical attributes”. “The company has come out with VI or ‘beautiful’ series as we wanted to go beyond providing the customers with just the best in technology,” says Bhatia. “Even the logo says VI series is an attempt to make the world what it was, and is meant to be beautiful”. In the split-AC series, the company is offering an all-new avatar of Hitachi Tower. “It has what it takes - high capacity compressor, three-dimensional airflow control, and the looks,” says Bhatia. “To top it all, the tower is being imported from Japan.” Videocon, too, is in the cool race with “ACs designed specifically to compliment the modern lifestyle”. “Each split AC comes in an attractive off-white colour with an effective outdoor unit for optimum cooling,” says Videocon dealer Sanjay Khanna. Explaining the trend, he asserts: “With dual incomes, not only the buying capacity of the people, but also the desire to own and exhibit the best has gone up. You now have not just designer living rooms, but bathrooms too. That’s why the stress this time is not just on the interior, but also the exterior.” He adds: “For the purpose of providing the consumers with what they desire, the dealers forward feedback from the customers to the company. Daikin is focusing on creating sleek, modern air-conditioners “that coordinate smoothly with any type of interior décor”. As such, the company is selling “an incredibly versatile grill-less flat panel design” in split ACs. Godrej, too, is offering split ACs in silver and mirror finish with air purifiers, even ones with Vitamin C filters. You can also boast of possessing ACs that throw “deo-air”. General Air Conditioners have flooded the markets with ACs having flaps that close or open automatically for that elegant look. Now all you have to do is to look out for ACs that fit the pristine environs of house and freeze your option.
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Buzz on Bourses
Mumbai: Dubai-based Emaar Properties and Indian real estate developer MGF group have acquired a majority stake in Singapore-based retailer RSH Ltd, the companies said in a statement. A joint venture of Emaar and MGF, Golden Ace Pte Ltd, bought 61.3 per cent in RSH for S$227 million ($150 million), taking stake to 87.3 per cent, a statement said. MGF indirectly holds 70 per cent in Golden Ace while Emaar Properties holds 30 per cent. “Asia and the West Asia-North African region is witnessing a retail revolution, and this move marks our entry into the niche segment of fashion and lifestyle,” Siddharth Gupta, MGF group director, said.
— Reuters
Piramyd Retail deal
Mumbai: Piramyd Retail Limited, retailer and a part of the Ashok Piramal Group, has signed a deal with Dynamic Vertical Solutions (DVS) recently for implementation of Life Style Retail in its stores. The deal is for about 100 stores and 500 Point of Sale (POS). Aimed at retail, the solution covers POS, Customer Retail Management, back office and head office in a single application, allowing easy integration with retail management.
— UNI
Star Giga’s offer
Mumbai: Star Giga group has come up with a “home abroad” offer for Indians with residence visas at Ajman near Dubai. Star Giga is a new venture of Pakistan-based Giga International group whose wide range of investments add up to $4 million, and ETA Star which is company owned by an Indian, Vicky Oswal of Oswal Realty, in UAE that is engaged in construction of commercial and residential properties. The group is investing Dirham 700 million and is offering flats at a minimum cost of Dirham 3,32,000 and a maximum of Dirham 3,37,000.
— UNI
Merlin malls for smaller cities
Kolkata: Merlin Group, a Kolkata based real estate company, will set up malls, including “Homeland”, a speciality mall showcasing wide range of products like furniture fixtures to home appliances, in Jaipur, Ahmedabad, Raipur and Siliguri. Speaking to reporters, company managing director Sushil Mohta said: “We plan to set up more malls in big cities like Jaipur and Ahmedabad where we have already taken up real estate projects. The areas of these malls will be much bigger than the Kolkata one, with an area of around 2.5 lakh square feet. We may set one or two more “Homelands” or multiplexes with areas dedicated for Homeland.”
— UNI
Indian realty firm abroad
Toronto: Amidst a surging demand from NRIs for luxury housing in their home country, an Indian realtor firm has opened its office here to facilitate such investments in India. Property Affaire’s, based in Mississauga that represents 12 developers with 60 under-construction properties, provides total packages to the customers, including property management, financial and legal services, and warranties against fraud, managing director Sandeep Kapoor said. — PTI
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TAX tips By S.C. Vasudeva Q. My son is a Canadian citizen holding PIO Card. (dual citizenship). Please inform whether he can purchase immovable property or agricultural land for residential purposes in India from his NRE account. — Gian Chand Mittal, Samana A. Your son can purchase an immovable property in India by withdrawing amount from NRE account. However, a non-resident, even if a person of Indian origin cannot acquire agricultural land in India. Your son may not be able to buy agricultural land in India as he is a Canadian citizen. Buying apartment
Q. I had sold my house at Jalandhar in 2005 and claimed exemption on capital gains (Rs 4 lakh) by purchasing a plot at Panchkula with a view to construct a house within three years. Instead of constructing the house, I now intend to sell the plot and buy a readymade flat. I expect a capital gain of Rs 8 lakh by selling the plot. I request you to please clarify the following: (a) Will the exemption claimed on capital gains in 2005 be still valid? (b) How much income tax on capital gains of the plot do I have to pay? Approximate cost of buying a readymade flat is Rs 20 lakh. — Satish Bhargava, Shimla A. The answers to your queries are as under: (a) You have not indicated the exact date of sale of house in 2005. The availability of the exemption with regards to the taxability of capital gains on the house sold in 2005 will depend on the completion of the period of two years within which you were required to buy a house. The provisions of Section 54 of the IT Act, 1961 (The Act), provide for a time limit of three years for the construction of the house and two years for the acquisition of a house. In case two years period has already expired, the exemption would not be available. However, in case the period of two years has not expired you can still avail the exemption. (b) In case you do not satisfy the conditions specified hereinabove, the capital gain of Rs 4 lakh earned on the sale of your residential house will be brought to tax as a long-term capital gain in the previous year in which the period of three years from the date of transfer of the original asset expires. Apart from that, the capital gain earned on the sale of plot will be taxable as a short-term capital gain since the plot has not been held by you for a period of three years. The short-term gain so earned will be added to your total income and thus be taxable at the highest slab rate of 30 per cent plus applicable surcharge and education cess.
Panchayat area
Q. My son purchased some agriculture land in the panchayat area in 1993 for Rs 25,000. The total registration charges were Rs 2,640 for this land. This area falls in panchayat area and is 8 km outside of any municipal or notified area. Now he is interested to sell, it through me against GPA for Rs 15 lakh. Kindly intimate if any capital gain is to be paid for this sale or not, if yes, then how much is to be paid. It may also be intimated if this will be paid by me or by my son, since all payments for this sale will be paid in my name. Kindly also intimate the method to save this capital gain. — Krishan Lal Sharma, HP A.
In case the agricultural land purchased by your son in 1993 is outside the municipal limit as explained by you, there would be no liability with regards to the capital gains tax. This is because such an agricultural land is excluded from the definition of the term ‘capital asset’. However, I would advise you to check up the gazette notification issued by the Finance Ministry in this regard so as to confirm that the agricultural land is not covered within the limits laid down in the said notification. The notification can be found in any book on Direct Taxes Circulars published by taxman. Further, I would also suggest that in case the agricultural land is situated beyond the specified distance, you should obtain a certificate from the tehsildar with regards to the situation of land being beyond the area specified in the aforesaid notification.
Joint ownership
Q. I, along with my wife, purchased a flat financed through a joint housing finance loan from LICHFL. The said flat is registered, in the revenue records, in our joint name and the repayment is also being made through our joint bank account. Our shares in the said housing loan as well as the flat ownership are not specified. We both are government employees and income tax assessee. Can we both individually / independently claim full tax rebates on the interest & principal paid/payable as allowed u/s 24(b) and 88c or only in specific proportions, say 50:50 ratio or otherwise? Please elaborate/clarify, especially in view of non-specific shares in the said joint housing loan and the flat ownership. — Rajinder Kaushal, Shimla A. It has been indicated by you in your query that shares in the ownership of the flat acquired by you and your wife is not specified. In such a case the ownership will depend on the amount of investments made by you and your wife in the acquisition of the flat. The deduction, in respect of interest under Section 24 of the Act, should, therefore, be claimed in the ratio of investment made by each one of you. The deduction in respect of repayment of loan will be on the basis of loan taken by each one of you for the purpose of the construction of the house.
Ancestral land
Q. I sold my ancestral agriculture land of village Patti-Gill, which is within 8 km from the municipal corporation limit of Bathinda city. My grandfather purchased the said land in 1957. I have earned Rs 20 lakh from one acre. If I buy the agriculture land from the above amount then please tell me, whether I have to pay capital gains tax or not? If I pay this tax, then kindly tell me how is the tax calculated? How can I get exemption from this tax? — Baljit Singh, Bathinda A. Section 54B of the Act provides that where the capital gain arises from the transfer of a capital asset being land which, in the two years immediately preceding the date on which the transfer took place, was being used by the assessee or a parent of his for agricultural purposes, and the assessee has, within a period of two years after that date purchased any other land for being used for agricultural purposes then so much of the capital gain as is invested in the acquisition of such a land will be exempt from tax. The facts given in your query does not indicate whether the agricultural land was being used for agricultural purposes. If the same was being so used, the capital gain thereon will be exempt in case the same is invested in the purchase of agricultural land within the specified period.
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GRound Realty Jagvir Goyal talks about strong foundation and excavation techniques Foundations constitute an important part of a structure. Foundations are the anchorage and when Mother Earth grips them, the part protruding above the surface of earth, called superstructure, becomes stable. Always pay extra attention to them. These must not be disregarded or discounted just because they happen to be the hidden part of the building. Here are a few golden points to lay them well. Keep them strong: Make the foundations stronger than necessary. A little extra investment here will pay back well. Always keep the provision of future storeys in mind. Today, you may be determined not to add another storey but later but you never know yourself. Keep the foundations strong enough to bear the load of at least one more storey than those being built today. Excavation plan: Ask an engineer to develop an excavation plan. It is easy to draw and is very helpful. It takes into account the width of foundation of each wall and you come to know the exact areas to be excavated. The left-out area can be planned well for storing excavated material and carry out other activities. Accurate layout: Mark the layout at site as per the excavation plan. Always get the centre lines checked. Next get the room dimensions checked with respect to centre lines. Check the diagonals and right angles. If the two diagonals of a rectangular or square room are not found equal, there is some error in the layout. Make the diagonals equal. Note that equal diagonals do not ensure right angles. So check right angles separately. Plinth level: Fix the plinth level of the building very carefully. There is a tendency to keep this level very high with respect to the road level, perhaps under the fear that rainwater may enter the building someday. This is not a good step. Just keep the road level and future raisings in view. Generally, a plinth level 12 to 15 inch higher than the level of the road in front suffices. Higher plinth levels result in steeper ramps at the main gate and looks ugly and impracticable. Such steep ramps create a permanent problem for the vehicles to be taken inside and outside of house. Otherwise, people encroach upon the government land while trying to provide a gentler slope. This may again invite trouble. Call the engineer to site and fix the plinth level carefully. Pillar network: It is always better if some line-and-level pillars are created at site along the centre lines of the walls. These help in accurate layout, fixing of plinth levels and right-angled construction. Keep these pillars at least 5 feet away from the excavation line so that these are not disturbed by the construction work. Apply some cement plaster on these pillars and mark the centrelines of walls on them. Create a standard reference pillar and mark the ground level and plinth level on it. It will serve as a permanent level benchmark throughout the construction work. Right depth: While excavating the trenches for foundations, the most important point to be kept in mind is that you don’t go deeper than specified depth. Going deeper than required and then filling the extra depth with loose soil to achieve the required level is dangerous. It results in creating a loose base below the foundation. If deeper than required excavation is done somehow, it should be filled back with concrete, not earth. Anti-termite: Always get pre-construction anti-termite treatment done for the foundations. Termites always rise from the soil and should be eliminated there itself. After completing the excavation for foundations, prepare a solution by taking 0.5 per cent Heptachlor, 1 per cent Chlordane and 1 per cent Chloropyrifos and mix it with water. Spray this mixture on the bed and sides of the foundation trenches by using 5 litres of solution in one sq. metre area. Remove all vegetation and organic growth from the soil. Later, when the foundations have been raised and the soil back filling has been done around them to level the ground, again spray the solution on the filled up ground. Side slopes: Stack all excavated earth at least three to four feet away from the trenches. In small foundations, such as that of houses, the sides of trenches may be kept near vertical if the soil allows, but for deeper foundations, the sides of trenches should be kept in slope to avoid their collapse. In multiplexes and other high-rise buildings where foundations are quite deep, many accidents occur due to collapse of sides of trenches and labourers get buried below the earth. This happens only when proper slope is not provided to the sides of the trenches. Use a mixer: Preferably use a mixer for laying lean concrete. Otherwise, use a brick platform duly plastered for mixing. In case of hand mixing, separately mix cement and sand in dry form and spread over the stack of ballast. Sprinkle required quantity of water over it. Repeatedly turn over the concrete mass till it attains uniformity and cement mortar lubricates each and every ballast piece. Keep the size of brick ballast or stone ballast used in lean concrete laid below the foundations as 1.5 inch or 40 mm. Avoid oversized ballast. Generally, no attention is given to it and ballast of any size is laid. Sprinkle water over the bed of trenches before laying the concrete. Lay lean concrete: Don’t throw the mixed concrete in trenches from a height. If this is done, ballast, being heavy, gets segregated. To maintain a uniform thickness of lean concrete, provide thickness-indicators called theas inside the trenches at regular spacing. Lean concrete should be kept minimum 75 mm thick and may go up to 150 mm. Ram the laid concrete well, preferably with a 5.5 kg rammer. A man should be doing this work exclusively. Ensure that a level and well-set platform is ready to start brick or concrete work in foundations. Cure the lean concrete base for two weeks or allow at least one week curing before raising masonry over it. Take care that when the labourers carrying concrete filled baskets are walking in, excavated earth doesn’t come along with their feet and fall inside the trenches over the freshly-laid concrete. Bricks and mortar: For masonry work, bricks used should be fully soaked in water. If possible, a lined water tank should be created at site and bricks should be put in it. Take care that wet bricks are not stored on the ground or in mud. Put them at the platforms near the masons. Take care that only that much mortar is prepared, which can be consumed in half an hour. At the most, dry mix of cement and sand can be kept ready but water should be added to parts of it from time to time and mortar should be prepared every half hour to have best results. At the end of days’ work, the masons fill up the left over mortar in the frogs of top course of bricks. This is not desirable. Tell them strictly not to fill left over mortar in the frogs of top course. If done, this weakens the bond of the last course with the next course. While doing brick masonry, break vertical joints in brickwork. Happy building! — The writer is SE (Civil), PSEB. He can be reached through
www.jagvirgoyal.com
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Awkward dimensions
The violation of the Act starts from the very set when the plots are carved out and sold without the mandatory approval of the department. Section 16C of the Act lays down that no registrar or sub-registrar will register any land sale deed without the prior approval of the subdivision of land by the Town and Country Planning Department. However, influential landowners have been getting the sale deeds registered without approval in connivance with revenue officials. Landowners bypass the department because as the saleable plotted area comes to about 60 per cent of the total area after providing roads, parking space and other common amenities. Keen to get maximum returns, landowners sell every inch of land. As a result, plots of all sizes and shapes are carved out without leaving any scope for providing basic civic services like sewerage lines and approach roads. The impact of unapproved plots can be seen in the haphazard growth of concrete structures on steep slopes. Structures have been coming up virtually one over laving no scope for municipal authorities to provide the basic amenities. The government has written to the deputy commissioners more than once to strictly enforce the provision and restrain the registrars and sub-registrars from registering land sale deeds or documents of any sub-division of land on share basis unless the subdivision into plots is duly approved by the Town and Country Planning Department. However, the revenue officers have been taking the plea that the Registration Act, under which the land sale deeds are registered, does not have any provision for prior approval of subdivision. The problem is further compounded because in most cases the land is owned jointly and no legal revenue partition is carried out. Patwaris have been issuing “sahil mansa” (indicating share) to the individual seller and purchaser for the land to be sold without legal revenue partition. Disputes arise as different portions of the land are sold to different persons. Deputy Commissioner of Shimla district Tarun Kapoor has now taken initiative to stem the rot. He has issued instructions restraining the patwaris from issuing “sahil mansa” without legal revenue partition. He has also asked the tehsildars to clear pendency of partition cases. Further, saleable plots to be approved by the Town and Country Planning Department will be incorporated in the revenue record along with an affidavit by the owner that he was surrendering the land provided for common facilities. It has been observed in the past that even after getting plots approved the owner raise structures on the land kept for roads and common facilities. As per the latest norms laid down by the department, about 40 per cent of the total land has to be provided for circulation, infrastructure networks, parking, parks, open spaces, playgrounds, recreational pursuits and providing basic services. The subdivision has to be carried out keeping in view the interest of the purchaser and not the seller. The plots are permitted at right angle to the road, with proper shape and dimensions in accordance with natural profile of land and slope, so that optimum use of the land is ensured. The dimension of the plot should be preferably in the ratio of 2 is to 3 and in no case the ratio should exceed 1 is to 3. The subdivision of land shall be permitted in accordance with natural profile of topography as shown on a contour map, drainage of the land, accessibility, road alignment, wind direction, local environmental imperatives and in accordance with prescribed land use. Natural flora and fauna shall have to be preserved and the natural nullahs, which pass through land involving subdivision shall be developed and maintained according to discharge of water during the peak rainy season. Minimum area of a plot shall not be less than 150 sq m for a detached house and 120 sq m for semi-detached house. Row housing will be allowed on plots of minimum 90 sq m subject to the condition that maximum number of such plots does not exceed 8 in a row after which a gap of 7 metres shall have to be left. Under exceptional circumstances, considering site conditions the minimum 60 sq m. plot for construction in a row where two common walls may be allowed, so as to provide smallest possible residential construction.
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Maspar’s strategy
Home furnishings company Maspar Industries Private Ltd is in talks with Reliance to retail out its products through their high end retail formats. “We are in discussions with Reliance but nothing has yet been formalised,” company managing director Rajesh Mahajan said.
In 2007-08 we will add four more stores in cities like Chandigarh, Noida, Hyderabad and Chennai,” he added.
— PTI
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Owning a house is the dream of many. But with interest rate moving northwards, the dream appears to be a mirage. Even those who had taken the risk a couple of year ago in buying a house with bank loan, now find themselves burdened by the growing EMI pressures.
The Haryana government is considering a proposal for the construction of one lakh EWS housing units in Gurgaon, which will be low cost and affordable for the lower strata of the society. If accepted in toto or even partially, putting the project on ground is expected not only to stir up the real estate circles, but also contribute towards arresting the spectre of jhuggi-jhopri clusters.
Haphazard construction has been the bane of hills. It has not only marred the scenic charm of the hill stations like Shimla, Manali and Dharamsala but also created a plethora of problems for the residents. The Town and Country Planning Legislation was enacted with a view to regulate construction activity in the state but provisions are observed more in breach.