Development disaster in the offing
Phase III sectors of Chandigarh lack basic amenities, says Pradeep Sharma

Civic amenities in Chandigarh, one of the most-planned cities in India, are the envy of the residents of other cities of India.

However, a spurt in the population, particularly in the southern sectors, has put much-vaunted amenities under undue focus with the result that there is a clear mismatch in demand and supply.

In fact, Phase III sectors of Chandigarh (from Sector 48 onwards) seem to be heading towards a development disaster if lack of planning on the part of the Chandigarh Administration and civic affairs wing - Municipal Corporation of Chandigarh - is any indication.

As a majority of the group housing societies have either been completed or are at a "completion stage", the influx of population has started in these sectors. And the already-stretched civic amenities are set to be further burdened.

Group housing societies allege that it takes months for the release of water, sewerage and electricity connections by the departments concerned. The way the bureaucracy and technocracy work in the Administration, their allegations seem to hold true.

With Chandigarh Housing Board (CHB) mulling the construction of hundreds of flats in the area, broadly falling between Chandigarh and Mohali, this stretch of land would have one of the largest concentrations of population in the years to come.

“The area needs a special package for the development of civic amenities. Currently, civic amenities are in a state of drift and strong administration and political will is required to set the things right," says Randhir Verma, a resident of Sector 48.

Residents allege that basic infrastructure, including roads, streetlights and parks, which set Chandigarh a class apart from mofussil towns, is lacking. “This infrastructure, coupled with water and electricity system, should have been in place before the shifting of population in the area. However, exactly the opposite has been happening in the strategic area, inhabited mostly by the educated middle class, comprising the salaried section and businessmen," Ajmer Singh, a resident of Sector 50, complains.

Even as the middle class, which pays through its nose for various amenities being provided by the Administration, is allegedly being denied basic amenities, the Administration's entire focus seems to be on the rehabilitation of slum-dwellers.

What to talk of above-mentioned infrastructure, the development of commercial space in this stretch of land seems to be nowhere on the agenda of the authorities concerned. A substantial number of residents have to go to far-off places to purchase items of daily use, as small markets are yet to be developed.

The area has no public transport system virtually, putting thousands of the residents to inconvenience. Since the area is situated at one corner towards Mohali, commuting to places in Chandigarh, Mohali and Panchkula is quite a task for the residents.

Commercial establishments, such as banks, consumer durable showrooms and other corporates offices cannot be opened as the Administration is yet to go for the auction of commercial property, a shopkeeper of the motor market in Sector 48C, rues. “We have to rush to other sectors for basic banking needs,” he complains.

However, officials highlight the development process is well underway in the area, which is being populated in phases. As the provision of infrastructure takes a lot of time and money, development works are going on in a phased manner. 

Vertical culture seeps through Ludhiana
Residents realise it pays to be in apartments within city rather than living independently on the outskirts, says Jupinderjit Singh 

WITH the expansion of Ludhiana on all sides fast reaching point of saturation, apartment culture, especially fully furnished ones, seems to be the buzzword in this densely populated city.

If earlier, it was only the government departments like the Improvement Trust, Housefed or PUDA that were taking on vertical construction, private builders have now jumped in the fray offering new, modernistic and innovative flats to the masses.

The huge investment these private companies are making in the field is based on simple logic. After all, there is a limit to which the city can spread. The expansion has touched Neelon Canal on the eastern front and nearly 40 km across Baddowal cantonment in the west. It has crossed Sahnewal as well as wild safari park on other directions.

With the government and main business places situated in and around Mini Secretariat, it is a Herculean task to visit these, if you are based in a far off colony. Though many private players offer well made colonies with all necessary facilities like playgrounds, schools, wide parking space in new colonies coming up on the outskirts, many would like to compromise on all that by living in an apartment, that is more centrally located.

This culture has become popular with the coming up of malls, plazas, multinational companies, banks and fast food restaurants required to cater to the huge influx of population.

Rohit Mahajan, manager of one such firm, reveals the company always prefers employees who live within a couple of kilometres from the office. “Companies prefer flats-on-lease to houses. These are easier to maintain.”

It was the Improvement Trust, which was the first to usher in flat culture. It was, however, too early for the Ludhianvis to lap those up. The HIG Pink Flats, situated in Sant Ishar Singh Nagar, came up in the early ’90s. The three-storey flats were priced at Rs 2 lakh only at that point of time. The flats sold like hot cakes but in the absence of any culture to live in those, the buildings remain abandoned.

Not any more. According to Avtar Singh Azad, Executive Officer. Improvement Trust, the occupancy in these flats is rising rapidly. From a negligible percentage few years ago, the occupancy has reached over 60 per cent.

He said the reasons for popularity of the flats now is that apart from the need to live in the centre of the city, flats ease pressure on land. “For how long can we keep on usurping agriculture land for constructing houses? How long can we keep eating into the agricultural land? More families can live in same space. It is better socially also as those living in colonies are cut off from each other.”

Further, he said, flats were cheaper compared to land rates: “You would have to spend a lot more on just buying a plot, whereas, you get ready accommodation in a flat.”

Mohinder Pal, Administrator, Improvement Trust, said the department has given one of the best colonies to the city and is the first to provide flats. “Going by the success of many schemes, the Trust has constructed more flats and has other schemes in the pipeline. Among those, flats coming up in Ghumar Mandi and the Vivekananda Complex are one of the best.

The real impetus to the flat culture has, however, been given by private players. Apna Punjab Homes, coming up on the south city bank of the picturesque Sidhwan Canal, Basera Homes, Crosswind and the upcoming Hampton Court and Golf Link Apartments are the schemes being eagerly awaited here.

Though not located in the centre of the city, builders are attracting people by offering new and unique facilities. Deepak Singhal, a well-known builder, said the flats he was constructing near Lodhi Club would be full furnished, “We are even giving air-conditioners, refrigerators and TV with flats, whose price is more than Rs 50 lakh.

He is, however, keeping his fingers crossed on how successful so many schemes would be. “People of this city are either very poor or rich. The poor cannot afford the flats and the rich want to live in villas or mansions. Flat culture would take some time to establish itself.

Major private companies are optimistic about project. Sanjeev Arora, Managing Director, Ritesh Properties and Industries Ltd, which is constructing 570 apartments in Hampton Courts on the Ludhiana-Chandigarh Highway said the residents were attracted toward a “city within a city kind of facilities”, they were offering.

“The price range would begin from 2,500 per sq ft. It is nothing compared to the facility we would be providing to customers.”

Smaller towns hubs of activity, finds study

OWING to land exhaustion and skyrocketing realty prices in tier I cities, the development activity has shifted towards tier II and tier III cities. This is the research finding of Chandigarh-based PropertyVerical.com, which has come up with a research report on such towns.

“Talking about northern states like Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana and Delhi NCR, there has been a remarkable shift in areas like Ludhiana, Patiala, Solan, suburbs like Mashobra, Naldera, Baddi, Kharar, Zirakpur, Dera Bassi, Kundli, Manesar, Sonepat, Indirapuram Phase III etc.

Not only have areas like Kundli, Sonepat and Manesar attracted big national and international developers but small areas like Kharar, Zirakpur, Mohali, Dera Bassi on the suburbs of Chandigarh, which were overlooked till a couple of years ago, have been successful in attracting big time developers,” the report says.

Investment in these upcoming and developing areas will certainly yield profits over the period of two to three years, the report summarises while hammering on due diligence. “It is also advisable to have a careful study of all perspectives like the viability of the place, the credentials of the builder, the authenticity of the facilities offered and the legality of the project itself before investing in the project as many speculators are trying to encash this trend of real estate boom,” the report cautions. — TNS

Valley homes don grey mantle
Ehsan Fazili talks to the man who replaced red bricks with concrete blocks 

SOLID grey concrete blocks have taken over traditional kiln bricks in the Kashmir Valley. Having been introduced in many areas outside the Valley earlier, this concept came into being nearly five years ago and is mostly centred around urban dwellings.

It all began with the setting up of a concrete unit by A.R. Rafiqi at the industrial complex at Khonmoh near Srinagar in 2001. He uses a mix of concrete-cement aggregate and sand to produce grey hollow blocks. Now, these blocks are giving the traditional bricks a run for their money, as former’s consumer following is large.

Sizewise, every hollow block is 8x8x16 and 6x8x16 or 4x8x16 inches, which is equivalent to eight or more brown clay bricks. There is also a provision for producing solid blocks with the sizes of 8x8x16 and 4x8x16 inches.

Though a smaller-yet-similar unit had been set up at Ganderbal much earlier, it could not succeed in making the product popular in Kashmir.

Today, the trend has grown and is being followed by setting up of nearly 20 such units in different parts of Srinagar, Budgam and Baramulla.

“This is because of the growing demand for the concrete blocks in place of clay brown products of brick kilns,” says Rafiqi.

The growing tendency of using hollow bricks made of concrete cement aggregate and sand material has started changing the colour of complexes and fencing walls from brick brown to concrete grey. If the ongoing pace is maintained, the entire urban Srinagar and other towns will turn from brown to grey in the years to come, says a user.

According to Rafiqi, he got the idea of manufacturing the product in the valley from Mysore in 1998, where the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) was constructing 500 apartments. He thought of introducing the concept in the Valley though Kashmir has different geographical and weather conditions.

He took about two and a half years to shape things up. His unit, New Insha Concrete Products, thus started functioning in 2001with little study of the possible market of the product, while it got the first customers in the Army and Beacon working on constructions across Kashmir.

The results so far have been encouraging, believes Rafiqi. However, the product comes with its own set of limitations.

One, colder climatic conditions hinder the production and use of the concrete product and secondly, the product cannot be reused.

The freezing cold, which usually hampers the construction works outside, also halt the drying up of the hollow grey bricks in the open. Another minus point with the product is that it cannot be re-utilised like the traditional bricks after demolitions.

The product was used initially in the construction of outer boundary walls, while the trend has now gradually moved over to the construction of residential houses and commercial complexes.

“The use of hollow concrete bricks is more beneficial and time saving,” comments Zamir Ahmad Andrabi, a user from Peerbagh, adding that there are 40 per cent lesser expenses on material and labour.

“The concrete block provides an intermediate solution between the advantages of brick and those of monolithic concrete walls. With necessary casting facilities, it is possible to produce uniform concrete blocks in the required strengths in larger quantities at rates much faster than clay bricks. Since a concrete block may replace eight or more bricks, depending upon the size, the cost and time of laying is also reduced, thereby contributing to the overall economy of the building,” states Rafiqi. 

GRound REALTY
Know about dicey cold joints
The strength of concrete depends on water, cement ratio, says Jagvir Goyal

SOME guidelines were given in the last write up to take complete control of important activity of laying RCC slab and finish it in a perfect manner. Here are a few more tips:

Right mix

Water-cement ratio of concrete is the most important factor that governs the strength of concrete. It is the ratio of weight of water to the weight of cement. Mixer operators keep no control over their hand and keep adding extra water to the concrete as it eases labour’s work. Addition of extra water defeats the mix design, all quality control measures and results in production of poor concrete. Keep an eye on mixer operator. Be strict with him. Give him a calibrated tin or a 5 litre full mouth can and tell him the number of cans to be put into each load of dry ingredients. Check in actual the water that gets filled in the can in one go of putting it into water drum and taking out as it will not get filled to the brim. Sometimes, narrow sections or areas with dense steel reinforcement require more workable and flowing concrete. For these areas, add extra water as well as extra cement.

Use a vibrator

Make use of a vibrator for compaction of concrete. Rodding or tamping are things of the past. A vibrator expels the air entrapped in the concrete and makes it dense, compact and strong. Theoretically, plate vibrators should be used for compaction of RCC slabs as normal thickness of slab is 4 to 5 inches. As the slab thickness is mostly more than 100 mm, choose an immersion vibrator (also called needle vibrator).

Extra needles

Keep available one or two extra vibrator needles as needles often need repair and change. During the laying of slab, there is no time available to bring a new needle. Avoid frequent shifting of vibrator. Choose a vibrator with 40 mm diameter needle and with a long flexible portion, preferably 5 to 6 metres long to compact concrete by keeping the vibrator stationary at one or two places.

Right compaction

While compacting concrete with vibrator, keep the needle in vertical position. Don’t try to push concrete with the vibrator-needle. Don’t try to lay the needle horizontally in concrete. Keep it vertical or almost vertical if best compaction is to be achieved. Cover all areas fully, with special attention to corners and edges. Switch on the vibrator only after immersing the needle in concrete. Immerse the needle in concrete at a place and watch the concrete surface. After a few seconds, air bubbles shall stop appearing on surface. That means, concrete stands compact. Shift the needle to next point. Continue like this.

Don’t over-vibrate

Stiffer the concrete, more time will it take at a point for compaction. Don’t touch the steel or shuttering with the vibrating needle. It may result in damaging the needle. For columns, lay concrete in layers of 300 mm and compact each layer. Don’t over-vibrate. It has reverse effect on the concrete strength. Over vibration makes the concrete bleed. This makes the concrete surface porous.

Concrete edge

Cold joints in slab are unplanned. Construction joints are planned ones. Cold joints are dangerous and occur when concrete is poured over already-poured concrete after a large time gap. Never allow that and keep an eye over the edges of concrete already laid. To be on safer side, don’t allow more than one-and-a-half hour to pass before laying fresh concrete over already laid concrete. Though little more time can be allowed, 1½ hour is a safe time limit. If circumstances like darkness, power failure, rain and running away of workers force you to stop work, always give construction joint at the centre of beams and slab and not at the supports. Further, keep it at right angles to main reinforcement and along the distribution steel.

Proper finish

It is very important to finish top surface of slab to avoid cracks or undulations in it. Do this, side by side while laying the concrete. Start finishing from the far end. Use a wooden float. Do not add extra cement slurry or mortar to finish the slab but use and absorb the slurry layer that has come out on top during compaction of concrete. Don’t over trowel. Too smooth surface will develop hair cracks at a later stage.

Go ahead. Happy building!!

The writer is SE (civil), PSEB. He can be reached through www.jagvirgoyal.com

TAX tips
By S.C. Vasudeva
Compensation for compulsorily acquired farmland exempt from tax

Q. I am a govt employee. I purchased a piece of land (716 sq yard) at Kaithal in 1989. The land was compulsory acquired by HUDA. Is the land compensation paid by HUDA in 2006 is exempted from long-term capital gains? If I have to pay tax on long term capital gains, then on what rate?

— S.N. Bansal, Patiala

A. The capital gain arising on a transfer by way of compulsory acquisition of an agricultural land which was being used during the period of two years immediately preceding the date of transfer for agricultural purposes by the assessee or his parents is exempt from tax. No such exemption is available in case of a compulsory acquisition by any authority of a non-agricultural land. It is presumed that land purchased at Kaithal is not agricultural.

The tax on capital gain arising on the compulsory acquisition of the land would be payable @ 20 per cent of the capital gain plus additional surcharge to cover education cess of 2 per cent on such tax. A surcharge of 10 per cent would also be leviable on the aggregate amount of tax in case your total income including the capital gains exceeds Rs 10 lakh. The additional surcharge of 2 per cent would be added on the tax and surcharge of 10 per cent. These rates are applicable for the assessment year 2007-08.

Since you have already purchased cultivable land on June 13, 2007, you should be able to claim the exemption on the transfer of the agricultural land under the aforesaid section provided the condition stated hereinabove is satisfied.