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Amenities Zero in Zirakpur
It is a tale of wasted potential and development gone haywire in the mad rush to make an early killing. Zirakpur, a township that has the potential of becoming the Gurgaon of Punjab is ‘Zeropur’ for those living there as far as basic amenities are concerned thanks to the enormous mistakes its planners made while it was coming up.
The township’s proximity to Chandigarh catapulted it to the top of real estate investment choices, attracting thousands to buy property here. The lure of having a house at affordable rates within commutable distance of the City Beautiful led thousands of middle class families to buy residential properties in the township and shift to the colonies that reportedly had the tag of government approval.
The Department of Local Bodies approved colonies on the basis of blueprints of maps without bothering to factor in the situation on the ground. The fact that the supporting infrastructure was missing at most places was tactfully concealed by the developers and builders and overlooked by gullible buyers. The empty spaces shown on the plans were actually encroached upon. Even the area, which was shown as a dried riverbed, had hundreds of houses on it. The roads in most places are not wide enough, no space has been earmarked for post offices, electricity complaint centres, government offices, police stations. Thus in the backdrop of these gaping goof ups the final picture that has emerged now is one of a concrete urban slum. The roads leading to the new housing colonies are narrow and no space has been left on either side to leave any scope for widening in future. Traffic jams are common on these roads. These are also bereft of roadside landscaping. Till the Municipal Council takes up a major forestation drive Zirakpur would continue to remain a denuded concrete jungle. The colonies themselves are nothing but islands of development with most supporting infrastructure missing or insufficient. Dearth of drinking water, long power cuts are common in these colonies. There have been instances when the power supply has remained cut off for over two days before anyone in the colony could get through to the electricity department officials. While the reckless approval to private colonies, without looking at the overall picture, was a criminal act (for which no one has been held responsible), the fact that the urban development agencies failed to stem the mushrooming of illegal colonies and houses all over Zirakpur is also to be blamed for the current state of affairs. Those who either owned land here or bought it just before planned development took over, had colonised large chunks of land. Illegal colonies have come up everywhere in the township. Since there was no stopping the builders, no one was concerned if a tributary of the Sukhna choe was just outside one’s house or the sewerage and electricity connections had been procured illegally. Getting an illegal connection is just the beginning. The buildings bylaws have been ignored in most constructions in houses in these illegal colonies. At most places, the richer or better connected you are the fancier house you have. A municipal councillor’s house, for example, is visibly the best house in the row of houses in one such colony. But no amount of fanciful construction can make up for the sheer lack of other infrastructural problems. The roads here are so narrow that a vehicle has to be lined up right against a house’s boundary wall to make space for the other vehicles to pass. Car owners have no space to park their vehicles inside the houses and these are seen parked either in empty plots or along the road. Only 40 per cent of the population of the township has access to sewerage connections and only 60 to 65 per cent have
There are not enough green spaces for the children to play or the elderly to get together. Since the planners did not include space for schools in their plans, there is no quality private school to cater to the needs of people who have shifted here. Small private schools, however, abound. Most of these are being run from the upper floors or, worse, from the rooftops of buildings. There are very few government schools in Zirakpur and there are no plans afoot to increase their number. The only solace that the residents, who have made Zirakpur their home, can draw is that the upward trend of property prices is continuing. For the rest, the town is virtually un-livable and scope for improvement on this front is limited. Zirakpur is the perfect example of lopsided development where the focus of the government’s attention has been on granting indiscriminate approvals to colonies without putting in any effort whatsoever to provide infrastructural support to those who would live in these colonies. No steps have been taken to curb the free-for-all illegalities that other builders indulged in. An example of the myopic vision of the town’s Municipal Council is a filthy bricked sewerage nullah that was left incomplete and has, over the years, been doubling up as a garbage dump. And just a few kms down this point a fancy multi-storeyed mall is coming up. The starkness of the comparison is for all to see except for the state’s town planners.
All hope on urban mission
R.K Mittal, executive officer of the Zirakpur Municipal Council, said most of the problems being faced by residents regarding the civic amenities would be resolved shortly. “The council has prepared a list of proposals for the government to be included in the Jawaharlal Nehru Urban Renewable Mission (JNURM). These include streetlighting, water, fire contingents, storm water drainage system, housing for slum dwellers, parks, widening of roads etc,” said Mittal.
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Auction time in Ludhiana
Driven by the need to augment income and encouraged by the high price fetched in recent auctions of land by GLADA and Improvement Trust, two major properties owned by the government are all set to go under the hammer in the city.
A record price of over Rs 700 crore is expected in the auction making it one of the biggest land deals in the state. The cash-strapped state government is looking to earn revenue worth crores of rupees from the auction of prime nine acres of the Old Court Complex land and of the Old Tehsil Complex in Chaura Bazar. For real estate dealers, the auction brings hope of further fillip to the sale purchase business of government property, which is already seeing an upward movement in recent times. The only concern is if it would bring back to the state the investors, who were quite active during the Congress regime but now seem to be observing events from a safe distance. Already, the auction of property by GLADA (Greater Ludhiana Area Development Authority) at Ferozepur Road at the rate of Rs 1.51 lakh per sq yd has jacked up the price of adjoining private land to nearly or over Rs 2 lakh per sq yd. Though the private property business is having a more or less status quo, it is the government property which is attracting buyers. It is mainly because the land is situated at prime locations. The auction of the Old Courts complex and the Old Tehsil may set new records of earning revenue. Deputy Commissioner Sumer Singh Gurjar told Real Estate Tribune that the reserve price for the nine acre old court complex was Rs 1.25 lakh per sq yard and Rs 1 lakh per square yard for nearly 2 acres of the old tehsil land in Chaura Bazaar. Both properties are located at highly strategic places from business point of view. With no other space available in the Chaura Bazaar area, this land is expected to lapped up by realtors. Person owning this property can utilise it for constructing a mall, multiplex, food chain or leisure valley or anything else which can cater to the needs of the residents of the old city area, who still seem to be still living in the old world. The markets here are located in narrow lanes in sharp contrast to the big city culture sprawled across the railway line where markets are wide and a number of multiplexes have come up. People of the old city can look forward to a major shopping, excursion spot near their house instead of traveling seven to 10 km to Wwestend Mall, the PVR or Ansal Plaza. DC Gurjar believes that open auction of the land would fetch far more price than the reserve price fixed by the government. “It is the most prime land lying vacant in the city. Both are situated in such places where not only residents but business houses would be interested for major commercial ventures.” The local property dealers too are keeping an eye on the auction. Parminder Singh, one such dealer, said though it would be only the big fish in form of private real estate players who would be able to buy land at such a high price but such deals always augur well for the local property business. He noticed that price of private land alongside the recently auctioned government land has gone up overnight by several notches. “The only catch is that there are not many buyers. They seem to be observing the trend first to see where the prices would stablise before making a kill.”
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Rising house loan frauds worry RBI
A study conducted on housing loan deficiencies and irregularities in the lending processes of the banks by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has revealed that frauds in the housing loan sector have increased tremendously over the past few years.
The maximum number of these frauds have been reported from the metros and big cities. As the housing sector has a significant effect on the national as well as global economy so there is an urgent need to take effective steps to prevent these frauds. Strong commitment and support from senior management with respect to mortgage fraud policies is a must for the success of such an initiative. The lenders must build strong internal control mechanisms to sniff out fabricated loan applications, closely verify the identity of the borrower/ nominee and trigger an alert on receiving an inflated appraisal. The performance and loan processors and credit decision makers must be periodically monitored. Any exception for the loan amount, interest rates or financial documents must be scrutinised thoroughly by the risk-management team. A number of frauds have been perpetrated in the area of individual housing loans. But despite this no preventive measures, except measures to recover the dues, have been taken in this regard. In a number of cases borrowers have taken multiple loans for the same flat or house or plot from various banks by using forged title deed/property related documents, forged/fabricated salary slips/income certificates and other related documents. In certain cases it has been found that borrowers have even provided false addresses to avail of loans. But apart from these frauds by the borrowers there also have been cases wherein the bank’s loan policies have been violated by certain branch managers. In these cases RBI instructions regarding necessary permission to be obtained from the competent authorities before sanction or at least before the disbursement of real estate loans were not followed. There have been instances of diversion of funds. Large facilities were sanctioned by certain branch heads to developers without specifically mentioning the project names in the appraisal notes and large amount of overdraft facilities were extended to the developers without any justification leaving scope for diversion of funds. Loan documents and sanction letters had no mention of covenant/conditions for securing commitments from borrowers to use bank finance for the declared purpose only. Due diligence of builders/developers was not carried out by certain branch heads specially in big cities and loans were sanctioned/disbursed even though the plans had not been approved by competent authorities. In the retail housing loan sector specially there have been cases where certain managers had not made genuine enquiries from the employers, salary details, integrity and repaying capacity of the borrowers. In case of floating rate loans no study was conducted to see the impact of upward movement in the interest rate on EMI and the borrower’s ability to meet the increased interest burden. Even the auditors did not highlight the suspected frauds/mounting over dues in the housing loan accounts. It has been observed that there is a lack of awareness among the branch heads/field officers and various risks associated with real estate lending. In recent years, technology has played a significant role in controlling financial frauds. Patterns most often associated with fraudulent activity are being identified to promptly understand the fraud - the kind of fraud and its origin- fraud analytics solutions, analyse behavioural trends of borrowers, direct selling agents appraisers and the historical data of fraudulent and non fraudulent loans, to predict precisely which new applicant will have the greatest risk of fraud. In such a dynamic environment, fraud detection and control becomes an even greater challenge for the banking industry and the need to strengthen and enhance people, process and systems rises exponentially so as to set new benchmarks for customer satisfaction. Undoubtedly, fighting frauds requires unified efforts of law enforcement agencies and industry but the primary responsibility to detect and prevent these lies with the lenders. The lending banks have to educate their customers and employees through anti-fraud training programmes and build and maintain strong internal controls.
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South a better realty market than North!
The North-South divide in realty is catching attention with a report saying that market in southern parts is relatively better. According to a research report by the global financial services Citigroup, South is a relatively better market than North on parameters like price environment and demand potential.
South also enjoys an edge in terms of potential benefits from ongoing infrastructure projects and lower supply risks, Citigroup analysts said after a three-day tour of key South Indian markets such as Bangalore, Chennai and Hyderabad. However, Parsvnath Developers, a key north Indian player in the real estate space, believes that the North is better placed than South and presence of the national capital region (NCR) gives it a further edge. NCR region consists of national capital New Delhi and its adjoining areas like Noida and Gurgaon. “The demand of end user in North is more than South because per capita income is more in North India than South,” Parsvnath chairman Pradeep Jain said. The NCR status is also a driving factor behind developing real estate market. “More than 10 states are supporting the real estate development in North,” Jain said, adding such a widespread joint effort was missing in South. International real estate consultancy DTZ also said in a recent study that some key southern cities could see more supply risks than some of their northern counterparts. According to DTZ Research, the excess supply was estimated at 200 per cent in Chennai this year, measured in terms of percentage of estimated absorption, while it is estimated at just 20 per cent in Delhi and NCR. — PTI
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Selling pipe dreams
An ambitious and grand scheme offering dwelling units in Rajiv Gandhi IT Park, commonly known as CTP, launched jointly by a major builder and the Chandigarh Housing Board with much fanfare, has not been able to attract much response in the initial opening. According to sources the number of applications received for various categories of dwelling units has remained much below the desirable numbers and the private builder can, in fact, find it hard to recover Rs 821.21 crore that it has to pay to the CHB for 123 acres of land in CTP. Of this amount, Rs 369 crore has already been to the CHB by the private builder.
The project is being marketed jointly by a major builder and various banks and the amount collected shall go to an escrow account. Of the gross receipts, 30 per cent will go to the Chandigarh Housing Board and 70 per cent to the company. The entire proceeds of the sale of commercial properties will go to the company only.
Response
A sum of Rs 13.82 crore was received from the applicants against Phase I and kept in the escrow account. Though CEO of the group has expressed satisfaction over the response, the private builder as well as the CHB seem to be losing sleep over the lukewarm response to the project. Now, they have announced a second opening for the scheme, hoping to garner some more funds. The prospective buyers get hooked as those who apply and deposit first 10 per cent of the price are not able to backtrack as a withdrawal means forfeiture of their 10 per cent initial deposit which in itself is a substantial amount (Rs 5.2 lakh for a one-bedroom apartment). Of the 1,314 flats planned by the private builder and approved by CHB, only 350 flats were offered to the public in first phase and that too at excessively high rates. The offer defied the very purpose for which housing boards are created. The offer price was Rs 6,950 per sq. ft that is five times the reasonable price. It also became evident that there is no big game in buying pieces of land by the real estate players at unimaginable rates as ultimately, they reflect it in the price calculations for the flats and recover it from the public. When a piece of land is sold for a whopping Rs 821 crore, it sure is a lucrative deal for the housing board, not so much for the public as the private builder will try and recover it from people by jacking up the prices. But if the public refuses to buy flats at such high rates, then the bidder becomes the loser. Normally, people avoid buying such high cost flats.
Other schemes
If we leave aside the flats under offer in Zirakpur, Baddi, Dera Bassi etc and compare the prices of luxury flats in the tricity, the picture emerges like this: PDL is offering PDL Royale luxury AC flats in Panchkula at Rs 3,750 per sq.ft i.e. at 45 per cent lesser price. Suncity offers Parikrama luxury AC flats in Panchkula at Rs 3,600 per sq.ft i.e. 48 per cent below the CTP project price. Emaar MGF is offering luxury AC flats in Mohali at Rs 2,950 per sq.ft i.e. at 58 per cent lesser cost.
Whither CHB motto?
Housing boards are supposed to acquire barren and infertile lands at low costs, develop them into housing colonies and provide shelter to economically weaker sections, low and middle income groups. HUDCO, the main loan provider to the housing boards also prefers to sanction schemes framed for poorer sections of society. The plea of the CHB that the profits earned from private players will be utilised for EWS schemes too seems hollow as the profit earned is not being earned from the developer but from the public itself. The developer reflects the cost of land in the price of the flats to be sold to the public. Thus it is the public who will ultimately be paying Rs 821 crore to the CHB. Even if we accept the plea of the CHB that profit earned from rich people will be passed on to poorer sections of society, net profits passed on to economically weaker sections shall be much lesser as many unnecessary costs and overhead charges crop up during the process.
The IT trap
Chandigarh Housing Board is likely to receive Rs 1600 crore from the developer if the CTP schemes sells in full. Income Tax authorities have served notice upon CHB to pay Income tax on this amount. The tax amount will be no less than 30 per cent of the total amount of Rs 1600 crore. Thus, CHB may have to pay about Rs 550 crore as Income Tax. In that case, CHB’s resolve to divert the funds towards housing for the poor and weaker sections may not be realised!
Facts about facilities
Along with this the projected facilities like 24-hr power back up etc being offered to the buyers and being cited as reasons for high cost, too have to accepted with a pinch of salt. Luxury flats and units demand a lot of power consumption to maintain the HVAC system, lifts and other ultra modern facilities. Power has become the most precious commodity these days. Whether luxury flat builders are able to set up and run power backups of required capacity is something yet to be seen. During a recent conference on energy conservation, organised by PEDA in CII complex, it was revealed that 60 to 65 per cent of power consumption of a building is due to HVAC system. With an increasing emphasis on energy conservation and green technologies these days, the use of power and that of diesel generating sets as power back up systems is likely to be curtailed in the times to come. In that case, most of these luxury flats will lose their opulence and comfort.
Price capping
Housing boards are not meant to act as business houses. During the auction of land, in addition to minimum reserved price, there should also be a maximum amount capping on the price of land when the land is being sold for residential plots or flats. No problem, if it is being auctioned for a multiplex or hotel or industry. In that case, its auction price is not to be recovered from the public. But when it is earmarked for residential purposes, it is the public who has to pay the auction price and the maximum cost of land must be fixed. Modalities can be worked out like awarding the land to the first bidder of maximum price which can be kept confidential. Suppose the maximum cost of a piece of land is fixed as Rs 100 crore and is kept confidential. Let’s assume that its minimum reserved price is fixed as Rs 20 crore. At the time of auction, bidders may be told that there is a maximum amount cap and the first bidder crossing that cap will be given the award at the capped price. Suppose the first bidder bids at Rs 30 crore, next at Rs 50 crore, third at Rs 80 crore and fourth at Rs 110 crore. The auction process should be stopped there and then and the fourth bidder should be given the award at Rs 100 crore. Same price should be reflected in the cost of residential units offered to the public. Thus whether the CHB’s blue-eyed baby lives up to its promise or would remain a pipe dream remains to be seen.
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Now, consumer is the king
Pradeep Sharma Political stability and “people-friendly” real estate policies of the Punjab government have made Chandigarh’s periphery a hot property for investors and end users, says Dakshdeep Singh, chief operating officer (COO) of the Parkwood Developers Private Limited. In an interview with The Tribune, the young builder said speculation in the real estate sector was on its way out as end users were again in the forefront of the real estate market. “The coming years will witness the return of the end users and genuine investors, who want to hold property for steady returns over a longer period of time, hogging the limelight,” the Delhi-based realtor said. Dakshdeep Singh, whose firm has come out with a state-of-the-art residential project, Parkwood Glade, on the Kharar-Landran road, said this particular stretch of road was going to be a favourite of realtors and the property buyers for a variety of reasons. “Stratigically located on the border of fast-developing towns of Mohali and Kharar, the area is all set to reap the benefits of the four-laning of the Kharar-Banur road, which would eventually link Kharar with other important towns of the region.” With major realtors coming up with residential and commercial ventures, including shopping malls-cum-multiplexes, the area would see unprecedented urban growth. “Since there was no haphazard urban growth around the area, the architects and planners have large chunks of land to plan as per the needs and aspirations of buyers different strata of society,” he claimed. With Chandigarh’s periphery bursting at seams with the construction of thousands of multi-storeyed apartments, the entry of private sector in the real estate sector in a big way has made the consumer the king as he has an array of options to suit his taste and pocket, he said. In fact, in future the builders would be judged on customer satisfaction parameters by the investors and the end users, he stated.
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Why house-building advance and loan taken from bank treated differently?
By S.C. Vasudeva Q. As per the house building advance rules of Government of India we can take the HBA for purchase of plot and construction on the site thereof. We can take 40 per cent amount of HBA entitlement for purchase of plot and remaining 60 per cent in two instalments of 30 and 40 per cent after the registration deed and building plan approval (for single-storeyed house). Why the home loan taken from the bank in the similar manner i.e. partly for the purchase of plot and partly for construction, not treated at par for claiming income tax rebate? In my case I have taken loan for purchase of plot Rs 4 lakh and Rs 5 lakh for construction, Then under which rule HBA and home loan advance given by financial institutions can not be treated at par? —Rajwant Rai, Chandigarh A. Section 80C of the Act does not provide for any deduction for the amount borrowed for the purposes of acquisition of the land. This is because of the language used in the Section which reads: “For the purposes of purchase or construction of a residential house property the income from which is chargeable to tax under the head income from house property”. In your query you have stated that you had borrowed money specifically for acquiring a plot. My opinion was thus based on the provisions of Section 80C of the Act which are very explicit as pointed out herein above. As explained earlier, you would be entitled to the deduction of the repayment of the principal amount for the construction of the house. Date of plot allotment
Q. I am a Senior Citizen. I was allotted a residential plot by HUDA in May 2004. In addition to 10 per cent earnest money already paid, I paid another 15 per cent amount of plot price to make the total payment of 25 per cent price of the plot as per HUDA direction in May 2004 itself. Next year annual instalment was also paid by me to HUDA. Now I want to sell this plot. Kindly advise me on the following points: (a) I understand that entitlement for Long Term Capital Gain (LTCG) out of the sale proceeds from this plot would be applicable only after the expiry of the period of three years. Whether this period of three years for LTCG is to be counted from May 2004 or from date of offer of possession of this plot by HUDA or from the date when actual possession of this plot is taken by me from HUDA? (b) If the period of three years is to be taken from May 2004, then I become entitled for LTCG. If this is true, can I invest the entire amount of LTCG in REC or NHAI to save tax on LTCG legally? (c) Can I purchase another residential plot out of the part amount of LTCG from the sale of my above said HUDA plot and invest the balance LTCG amount in REC or NHAI without inviting any tax liability on this LTCG amount? (d) Whether the entire sale proceeds of the above said plot are to be deposited in the bank in separate account till the LTCG amount is invested in REC or NHAI? Can only the LTCG amount after deducting the indexed price of the plot be deposited in the separate account in the bank for investment in REC or NHAI? —S.R. Gupta A. The answers to your queries are as under: (a) In case you do not take the possession of the plot, you would be selling your allotment right for which the period of three years would be counted from the date of allotment. Accordingly, the period of three years would be taken from May 2004. (b) The capital gain would be a long term capital gain in case the allotment right is sold after a period of three years and you would thus be able to save the capital gains tax by investing the long term capital gain in the acquisition of tax saving bonds issued by the Rural Electrification Corporation Limited or National Highway Authority of India. (c) The investment in another plot would not entitle you to any tax relief. In case the proportionate amount is invested in acquisition of tax saving bonds, the exemption would be allowed proportionately. (d) The investment in the acquisition of tax saving bonds is to be made within six months from the date of the transfer of the long term capital asset and therefore you would not be required to deposit any amount in a separate bank account.
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Tips to plug the leak
Faulty laying of sanitary and rainwater pipes may leak out your peace of mind, so follow these guidelines enlisted by Jagvir Goyal for trouble-free service Howsoever good may be the quality of sanitary and rainwater pipes, these will not provide trouble-free service unless we fix and lay them in a correct manner. Slopes, wherever given, ‘pipe to pipe joints’ and ‘pipe to fitting joints’ are to be given special attention. Joint fixing materials are to be chosen carefully. Before discussing the correct method of laying pipes, here are a few guidelines on joint fixing of pipes: Location of pipes
Take care that soil and waste pipes are erected in position before the laying of DPC while rain water pipes are erected after the laying of DPC. Always decide the location of soil and waste pipes very carefully. A soil pipe too close to the corner may create a lot of problems in fixing of P trap. The seat size, its placement and the distance of its centerline from the wall will determine where a pipe should be located and embedded. Stack them separately and put identification marks or placards over their lots. This proves helpful and eases your work. If using PVC pipes, don’t stack them in the open.
Joining PVC pipes
While installing PVC pipes with sockets, keep the sockets against the direction of the flow. Always store solvent cement in well shaded and cool area. Never store it in open. For solvent cement joints, don’t leave solvent cement in open tins for long durations. Use small sized tins for it. For seal ring joints, see that the ring is seated well in the groove of socket. Don’t rest the spigot of the next pipe inside the socket of lower pipe but leave a little gap of 8 to 10 mm between the two to allow space for pipe expansion.
Joining CI pipes
The joints in CI sanitary pipes are filled with lead. The joints in CI rainwater pipes may, however, be filled with cement mortar. Joint filling needs to be done very carefully to avoid any leakage. At a later stage, it becomes most cumbersome to repair joint leakages and the plaster/finishing work gets damaged. Repaired finishing never attains the same look that it was having originally. It is better to ensure leakproof and airtight joints. For this, centrally place the spigot of the upper pipe in the socket of lower pipe or fitting. Now fill one third of the socket space around the pipe with hemp yarn and press it well with caulking tool available with the plumber. Next, fill the balance two-third of space with molten lead.
Quality of lead
Soft and pure pig lead that is free of all impurities should be used for lead joints. Always choose IS 782 marked lead only. Don’t save on the cost of lead or allow your plumber to do that. Some builders look for IS 27 marked lead. Note that IS 27 marked lead is the virgin lead in the form of pigs while IS 782 marked lead is the caulking lead. So look for IS 782 marked lead. Pure lead is 99.97 per cent pure. Reputed manufacturers like Hind provide that. Recycled lead may be about 99 per cent pure. There is a rate difference of Rs 10 to 15 per kg between the two.
Quantity of lead
Ask your plumber to make a sample joint of two spare cut pieces of pipe. When the lead has hardened, break open this joint, take out the lead and check its weight. If the weight is correct, two things will become known. First. the pipe sockets are fine and second, the plumber can make the joints correctly.
Filling the joints
Take care that pouring of molten lead in the socket is done immediately after the pressing of caulking yarn. In short, a joint is to be completed in a single operation. After pouring lead, it should be caulked well with caulking tool and finished at 45 degrees to the pipe. Lead in excess should be removed.
Rainwater pipes
While joining CI pipes used as rainwater pipes with cement mortar, fill one third of space in the socket around upper pipe with spun yarn soaked in blown bitumen of 85/25 grade and press it well with caulking tool. Fill remaining space with 1:2 cement mortar. Don’t add more than 30 per cent water for making cement mortar. Caulk it well with caulking tool. Must finish it at 45 degree slope. Well cure this cement mortar for seven days by putting gunny bag pieces around each joint and keeping them moist.
Precautions
While erecting sanitary pipes, fittings are to be inserted in them at various locations to connect floor traps and horizontal pipes at later stages when the flooring work is done and sanitary appliances are fitted. As there is a considerable time difference between the activities of erection of pipes and flooring work, plug the open mouths of all fittings and pipes with gunny bags to avoid their blockage till the time next fitting is joined with them.
Location drawings
Note that the drawings prepared by the architect show only indicative positions of pipes. You must note the actual positions of pipes erected and mark them in red in an extra print of the plan. Paste cloth on the back of this drawing and secure it well. Such a drawing becomes very useful when years later, some repair or maintenance work is to be carried out as the exact locations of pipes will be known. A similar drawing should be prepared for water supply lines also.
PVC line location
Indians often drive nails and hooks in the walls to hang calendars, wall hangings, wall clocks and what not. If a nail is driven in the wall at a point where PVC pipe is concealed in it, it will get punctured and a great trouble will be created for you. An easy method to avoid this is to mark light coloured lines on the surface of walls of bathrooms and toilets along the concealed PVC pipelines. The writer is Superintending Engineer Civil, PSEB, author, technical books and can be reached through
www.jagvirgoyal.com
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IL&FS raises $578 m through RE fund
IL&FS Investment Advisors has raised $ 578 million through its second real estate fund and targets to close the fund at $ 750 million.
IL&FS India Realty Fund-II will invest in an entire gamut of real estate spaces across tier-I and tier-II cities. IL&FS Investment Advisors is a wholly-owned subsidiary of IL&FS Investment Managers Limited (IIML). IIML had raised $ 525-million through its first real estate fund in April 2006, the company said. “The investment team has seen investment opportunities across various sectors ranging from residential, retail, commercial and has the confidence to access prudent investments across all sectors in this space,” IIML’s vice- chairman and MD Shahzaad Dalal said in the release. IIML is currently managing investments in excess of $ 1.5 billion across various sectors, it said. — PTI
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