1. Rs-13 Crore Refund for Serenity Buyers
As Maharashtra Real Estate Regulatory Authority (MahaRERA) completes one year of operations on May 1, the authority has ordered its biggest refund of Rs 13 crore to home buyers of Bhagtani Serenity and directed the developer JVPD Properties, promoted by Lakshman Bhagtani and his son Diipesh Bhagtani, to pay a sum of Rs 4.94 crore to a group of 15, and Rs 8.15 crore to a group of 22 home buyers.
Most of these home buyers had invested sums ranging from Rs 20 lakh to Rs one crore and their complaints were earlier dismissed by MahaRERA on the ground that they did not possess registered agreements and denied relief under Section 18.
Source: Mumbai Mirror
2. BMC Bars Blacklisted Firms’ ‘Wives Club’
The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has finally woken up to inventive deceiving ways of some blacklisted contractors. Last week, Municipal Commissioner Ajoy Mehta scrapped a tender worth Rs 260 crore for a garbage transport contract in the western suburbs on the verge of going to a firm owned by a blacklisted contractor’s wife. He has promised to give new contractors a chance. Meanwhile, Mumbai Mirror has unearthed BMC documents that expose some dubious connections.
In March, Mirror had reported blacklisted contractors’ devious ways of winding through BMC’s echelons to bag new contracts – they, allegedly in connivance with BMC officials, were making their wives directors in a new bidding company.
Source: Mumbai Mirror
3. Lure of Cheap Flats Leaves 72 Families Homeless
It was a black Sunday for 72 families who had purchased one BHK flats in Byculla’s Rahat Manzil, which was completely razed yesterday following a five-year legal battle with the BMC. The residents were evicted from their homes in March after the Bombay High Court ruled that the building was illegal and allowed the BMC to go ahead with the demolition, but they lived on in the hope that the BMC and the court will show leniency, and that local politicians would come to their help.
Almost all residents had purchased one BHK flats and one-room-kitchen blocks, measuring between 260 sq ft and 350 sq ft, in the groundplus- six storey building for as less as Rs 15 lakh (the costliest flat in the building cost Rs 35 lakh) around six years ago. They realised they had been duped only a year later, when the BMC first issued them notices regarding illegal construction. The building had come up on a 500 sq mt plot, one of the many such structures dotting the stretch between Byculla and Mazgaon. Locals sarcastically call these structures ‘China’ buildings, comparing them to cheap goods manufactured in China, which come without guarantees.
Source: Mumbai Mirror
4. ‘The Cooks Pee in the Kitchen’
After months of complaining about bad food and equally worse hygiene in the cooking area, about 200 students residing at the Babasaheb Ambedkar Hostel in Worli decided to take matters into their own hands and locked down the mess on Sunday. The students have refused to return to the mess halls until the issue is addressed.
About 200 boys and 120 girls, who live in three hostels housed in two buildings at BDD chawl, are demanding that the government suspend payment to the contractor until the quality of food is improved. The protesters say that they will be visiting the social justice department office in Chembur on Monday to formally submit their application. The Social Justice Department is responsible for running the hostel.
Source: Mumbai Mirror
5. Guards for Doctors Leave Poor in Lurch
Five government hospitals in the state have shut their doors to the poor, owing to the state’s ill thought-out plan to provide doctors exclusive security cover at 13 healthcare facilities.
Swami Ramanand Teerth Rural Government Medical College and Hospital in Ambajogai, Government Medical College in Latur, Dr Panjabrao Deshmukh Memorial Medical College and Hospital in Amravati, Government Medical College and Hospital in Akola, and Shri Vasantrao Naik Government Medical College in Yavatmal have made this alarming admission in a letter to the director of the Directorate of Medical Education and Research (DMER).
Source: Mumbai Mirror
6. Help Arrested for Showing Porn Clips to Child, Says Saki Naka Police
A 22-year-old domestic help was arrested on Friday for allegedly showing pornographic video clips to a nine-year-old girl in Andheri. Saki Naka police arrested the accused after the child told her mother, who then registered a case.
According to police, the girl’s parents work in private firms. They had employed the help, a woman, to look after the child round-the-clock. Police said the help had allegedly been showing porn clips to the girl for the past 15 days. “Her parents noticed behavioural changes in their daughter. She had suddenly become quiet,” a police officer said.
Source: The Indian Express
7. They’ve Rid Their Homes of Plastic, and You Can Too
Bianca Louzado scours every corner of her house to find the last elusive piece of plastic. The 40-year-old Andheri resident, along with 174 other families of her housing society, has set out on what looks like an unattainable task — completely eliminating plastic from her life. But the enthusiasm is infectious, and the initial results are promising.
The 175 families’ residence — Rustomjee Central Park Society on Airport Road in Andheri — became the first housing society in the city to put a blanket ban on plastic last week. Over the past weekend, the society, spread over five wings, collected 700 kg of plastic and handed it over to a recycling company in Mankhurd.
Source: Mumbai Mirror
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