India needs tough real estate regulator to prevent more Campa Colas

Until there is an effective real estate regulator, unscrupulous builders will continue to dupe home buyers in cahoots with dishonest politicians and officials allowing many more Campa Cola-like situations in Mumbai or anywhere in the country to recur, two young members of the country’s biggest national parties said.

“The rot is very deep. The mafia penetrated the political class and bureaucracy and created an eco-system of power around them to execute their illegal real estate plans. What is needed is a strong real estate regulator both at the Central and state level,” said South Mumbai MP Milind Deora at the CNN-IBN discussion programme India @ 9.

BJP spokesperson Shaina NC also shared Deora’s views.

“We need to regulate ourselves. There is a huge need of political will to stem out the rot,” Shaina said.

It is alleged that the Campa Cola builder Yusuf Patel, who was said to be the right hand man of gangster Haji Mastan, blatantly flouted rules to build additional floors beyond the five floors that was originally permitted in 1982. The buyers of these illegal flats, which now stand at 750 families, today miraculously escaped the bull dozers razing down their homes after a last minute suo motu stay order by the Supreme Court.

However, the question is whether the absence of a real estate regulator allowed these illegalities to happen.

“Even now there are blatant illegalities. If a toothless regulator is created it is of no use. They must have real powers and must be able to take a call even on prices,” said urban development expert Chandrashekhar Prabhu.

But even after the creation of a real estate regulator many other challenges would crop up.

“A national real estate regulator is difficult because land is a state subject,” said Sucheta Dalal, managing editor of Moneylife magazine.

Going after the builders alone is also not the only solution, felt Lawyers Collective, director, Anand Grover.

“The Supreme Court should penalise the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation as well for inaction right from the beginning. In case of bringing the fraudulent builders to book the court must start it first,” said Grover.

Agreeing with Grover, Deora said, “Leaving the builder unpunished will be a half baked solution even if the residents are provided relief in some form by the court.”

The representatives from the political class who took part in the discussion rejected the claim that their presence in the Campa Cola compound today was to reap political benefits.

“Usually we are accused of representing only slums. The small number of Campa Cola residents are not a vote bank. This stand is a genuine message to the builder-politician nexus. We are representing the middle class as well. We cannot allow hard earned money of 25 years of honest people to simply disappear because someone cheated them. Our first priority is to provide relief to the residents,” the Congress leader said.

The BJP spokesperson aired similar opinion. “Why apathy and apology to take the cause of the middle class?” asked Shaina.