Nearly 30 years ago, 344 acres of prime real estate in Powai
was given to the firm so that it could begin the process of building thousands
of homes for poor families in the area who were desperate for the houses.
The deal involved an 80 year lease with work on site
supposed to start as soon as the deal was brokered.
Yet, twenty six years after that stage in development, Niranjan
Hiranandani has come under scrutiny for allegedly using the land to build the
luxury own Hiranandani complex, thereby robbing the poor families of their new
homes.
Maharashtra Police is currently investigating the agreement
entered into by the property developer with the Indian State Government and
Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority, who had hired the firm
thinking they were reputable company.
The original contents of the contract stated that Hiranandani
Construction was required to construct several homes between 430sq ft by 860 sq
ft to shelter some of the areas poorest families.
The accusations suggest that instead the land was used by Niranjan
Hiranandani to construct huge homes over a thousand square feet which were then
sold on to rich fat cats for a healthy profit.
The discovery was made by Social activist Santosh Daundkar
who found that large scale changes were made to plans by combing smaller
properties into singular large flats and thereby halving the number of homes
built.
Estimates suggest that these techniques made Hiranandani
Construction over Rs. 45,000 crore (approximately $8 billion USD) in ill-gotten
gains and leaving the poor families, who have waited for the new houses, homeless.
There are also accusations that used his influence and
position in local authorities to pay off civil servants who in then turned a
blind eye to the project.
The vast profits made by the development have allowed
Niranjan Hiranandani to fund a lavish lifestyle and fund future projects for
his company.
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