Community

Advisory: Please Apply for Regularisation of your PLOT

IMPORTANT INFORMATION FOR HOUSE OWNERS

Regularisation of Layout and Individual Plots

The Government of Tamil Nadu has Gazette Notified Rules for REGULARISATION of Unapproved Plots and Layouts under Government Order (G.O) No: 78, amended by G.O. No: 172. This notice is to provide you with essential information and advice.
There are separate rules and process for Regularisation of Layouts and Individual Plot.
Although all plots in our Township were duly approved by the competent authority, the President of the Mathalapattu Village Panchayat, there is a confusion that the approval may not be valid enough. To be on the safer side, we advise that every house owner apply for INDIVIDUAL PLOT APPROVAL.
For the Layout, we have been advised that DTCP approval is required for Local Administrative Bodies to provide public amenities and services such as maintenance of roads, garbage collection, water, etc.
The Association is currently undertaking steps to apply for approval of the LAYOUT only and not for individual plots.
All House Owners are requested to apply for INDIVIDUAL PLOT approvals on their own.
For regularisation of the layout, Each plot will have to pay Rs. 500/- as application fees and Developmental Charges to be calculated by DTCP and notified later.
The Last Date for submission of application is 03-05-2018. (3, May, 2018)
Applications can be submitted online at: http://www.tnlayoutreg.in
We will post further details on our Association website at: https://anugraha.online or http://wordpress-75580-669099.cloudwaysapps.com

News Articles on Unapproved Layouts & Regularisation

Unapproved layouts in the News

The Hindu – Approving a layout

There is no adequate legal awareness among the general public with respect to Panchayat layouts. In fact, there is no terminology called ‘Panchayat Approval’ as only LPA’s and the DTCP have the authority to accord layout sanctions. The panchayat president of any panchayat does not have any power to sanction land layouts within that respective panchayat.

The Hindu – Unapproved layouts and registration issues

Taken in by claims of ‘panchayat approval’, many people are stuck with plots in unapproved layouts When V. Ravikumar wanted to buy a piece of land in the temple town of Kancheepuram, his native place, he found a ‘panchayat-approved’ housing plot being offered at Rs. 4.50 lakh. He has so far paid nearly Rs. 3 lakh in instalments.

Then came the shocker. He cannot register the plot in his name as the Madras High Court has banned registration of sites unless they form part of a layout approved by top planning bodies such as the Chennai Metropolitan Development Corporation and the Directorate of Town and Country Planning.

The Hindu – When gullible small investors lose the plot

Several thousands of families have purchased such ‘panchayat-approved’ plots. The term itself is wrong in the first place as panchayats are not authorised to approve layouts. For most buyers, it is investment they believed that could be redeemed in some future moment of need. There seems to be no escape now with their property turning into a ‘zero-return’ asset.

The Hindu – Responsible buying is the key: activists

“ People are spending lakhs of rupees on buying land, but are not bothered about compliance with the law. They should be responsible purchasers and make sure they don’t fall foul of the law.”

The Hindu – ‘Non-notification of amendment, a deliberate act on part of govt.’

The CMDA had in 2007 instructed local bodies not to give approval for any layouts measuring 1,000 square metres,” said a former member secretary of the planning agency.

According to advocate G.Shyam Sundar, one possible option available to the government was to accord post facto approval or regularisation or ratification. The hard-earned money of low income group families could be safeguarded only through such a measure, he said.

More on Approvals and Regularisation:

https://content.magicbricks.com/property-news/chennai-real-estate-news/resale-of-unapproved-housing-plots-gets-govt-nod/88352.html

http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-tamilnadu/notification-against-registration-of-unapproved-layouts-pending/article4327504.ece

Regularisation of Unapproved Plots and Layouts, an Update

http://naredco.in/news-updates-details.asp?id=20602&prYear=2017&xmon=Aug&st=1&links=

Regularisation of Unapproved Layouts and Plots

https://scroll.in/article/820219/in-tamil-nadu-a-court-case-has-highlighted-misuse-of-farm-land-and-brought-real-estate-to-a-halt

My Reality India – https://www.myreality.in/2017/05/tn-regularisation-and-unapproved-plot.html

Administration of Township Temples

At the Executive Meeting held on 1 March 2018 the following resolutions were adopted:

Since no Congregational Volunteer Team could form and take over the administration of the Arulmigu Rajaganapathi Temple for the past few months as decided in the last General Body Meeting, the Association would resume administration of the two temples of the Township (Arulmigu Aiyanar Temple and the Arulmigu Rajaganapathi Temple).

A Temple Sub-Committee (under the Executive Committee) was formed for the effective administration of the Temple Affairs

Any devotee of the Township could offer to sponsor any festival, ornament or kainkaryam for the temple. – Preference would be given to Devotees in good standing with the community (full membership without maintenance dues) in awarding of preferential slots for Pujas and other Temple Devotional Activities.

However, the Association would be able to effectively run the Temple, meet its expenses from its Exchequer only after a formal hand-over of the Temple, its accounts, records, keys and lists of inventory from the previous Association team. It should be noted that the Arulmigu Rajaganapathi Temple was never handed over from the beginning of this Association Team’s tenure and thus it remains under the previous team’s responsibility and care.

Anugraha Township – Karikkan Nagar Talks – 2nd Round

Dear House-owners, Important Update.

Following last weeks’ closure of our STP by Karikan Nagar representatives, we approached the Sub Collector who directed the Tasildar to hold a peace meeting between 10 representatives each from our township and Karikan Nagar.

The meeting was fixed for 19 February at 4:00 PM at the Tasildar Office and the following executive members represented our interests:

Mr. Balakrishnan, ex-VAO
Mr. Gunasekaran, Vice President
Mr. Kumar, Engineer, Implementation Taskforce Lead
Mrs. Aruna, Joint Secretary
Mr. Balakrishnan, Joint Secretary
Mr. Kamala Kannan, Executive Member
Mrs. Valliammai, Executive Member
Mrs. Sujatha Ragothaman, Executive Member
Mr. Balaji, Executive Member
Myself, Dr. Jagan Mohan, Secretary.

The Karikan Nagar representatives (10 gentlemen) put forth a number of objections and concerns which I list here (in no particular order, from memory, others can add):

1. The STP should not function at the current site at any cost, no matter which authority orders or supports it, be it tahsildar, sub-collector or collector. We will oppose it at all costs.
2. The STP will harm the health of our Karikan Nagar people, we had already suffered from dengue and other diseases.
3. You residents of Anugraha are outsiders who have come from elsewhere and are now trying to adversely affect/kill our families living in Karikan Nagar for generations – we will never allow this and will fight it.
4. If we, the representatives compromise on point no 1, even a 10-year boy from Karikan Nagar will slap us with footwear/slippers, so we can never agree to anything other than the point no 1.
5. There can be no other solution, not ready to accept any guarantee, hear to any reasoning, other than shifting the STP.
6. Even if an STP that fulfills all norms and is safe now comes up, what is the guarantee that it will run for the next few years? Chances are that it will run for a few months and then, all the sewage will be let into the river, again we will be sufferers.
7. As evident on the Township Owners Group on WhatsApp, there is no Unity in the Township and only a few support the STP, many are questioning it, so the association will not be able to run the STP.
8. Even the two previous associations (terms) had failed to run the STP, and this present association term won’t last a year. There is already fighting within yourselves and it is at the verge of collapse.
9. Since the STP was closed by us, as your own people rightly pointed out on WhatsApp, you should have taken our permission prior to starting work, then you could have avoided all this expenditure and effort. Now there is no other way but to close the STP.
10. You should abandon this site and build it on another site. The Builder has already given you 22 cents of land by the riverside near the cremation ground, build it there.
11. If that land is not yet transferred, we will talk to the builder on your behalf and get it for you, you can build the STP there and abandon this present site.
12. We can get you as much land as you need elsewhere, we will take responsibility for that, you will have to give up this present site.
13. By building the STP you are condemning us and all our generations to come to suffer from it, we will not allow it at any cost.
14. You are building this STP because we are from poor lower social groups and you don’t care about our welfare.
15. We are affected people. We suffered because of you people letting sewage into the river and we depend on the river for irrigation water, washing and relieving. We will not allow the STP. You may build septic tanks in your own houses.
16. We closed your STP and sealed the pipes, you should come to us.
17. You people are not capable of running the STP, you are not even able to collect maintenance money from all your members, how will you ensure that the cost of running the STP be met? On your groups, we read that you are not paying your workers their salary (Some of our members talking irresponsibly led to this), how can you run the STP?
18. You have designed the STP very well and all that is OK, but without unity in your township you will fail, we cannot monitor the STP working, so we will prevent it from starting.
19. So you people had already decided to inaugurate in March? Let us see how you will do it.
20. We are all solidly united in Karikan Nagar in opposition to the STP at its present place.

In short, the Karikan Nagar representatives main point is that we are not united behind the STP and therefore we will not be able to run it, evident from posts on the Whatsapp, and therefore should be shifted away.

Our counter-arguments were as follows:
1. No need to speak of Karikan Nagar vs Township, we are also natives of the soil, we share the same sanitation and health concerns, germs don’t have borders, when Karikan Nagar was afflicted with Dengue, so was Anugraha as well as many regions in Tamil Nadu.
2. We will look at this issue on panchayat level instead of Karikan Nagar – Anugraha Basis, which will only make it more partisan and divisive, create and exacerbate tensions.
3. Only a very tiny minority of two to three people are creating trouble on Whatsapp, posting unnecessary questions, but the majority are simply minding their own business, leaving these affairs to the association and trusting us to exert effort and do the right thing, and we have their complete trust. Please do not go by what loud troublemakers do, they are not even members of the Association. All of us know that their intentions are merely to disturb and ignore them – You too should not pay them any attention.
4. We understand your fears, empathise with them and absolutely accept them as genuine. We must question our own capability to run the STP in the long run. We have taken some measures to ensure the sustainability of this development and we are happy to share and discuss them. Among the steps: Appointment of qualified STP Operational Technician, Corpus Fund for meeting partial expenses, Insurance of equipment against theft, cyclones, etc. Contingency plans for a breakdown, Warranty for all Motors, Annual Maintenance Contract to ensure immediate repair, storing of replaceable parts that will wear out, preventive maintenance, etc. We also have among our residents, engineers who are trained in water engineering (Retd Water Board Engineers, Project Managers with experience of building and operating THREE STPs, etc), their expertise will be utilised from time to time.
5. Because of well-founded fears, development, however, should not be stopped. That is our core petition.
6. The entire STP will be commissioned only after Pollution Board Clearance and periodically they will inspect the plant and we will be doing daily, weekly, monthly monitoring of the efflux water. Microbiological and other parameters will be tested periodically, recorded and communicated to the Pollution board. We would gladly welcome representatives of Karikan Nagar to be part of our operations monitoring cell to oversee the performance of the STP.
7. The Tahsildar inquired if he can seal the STP if even a drop of water is found ‘infectious’, we answered in the affirmative that he can exercise his powers to seal the STP plant if even a drop of water is found ‘infectious’. We stand by that commitment.
8. We will not let out ANY water, not even a drop into the nearby stream. Engineer Kumar as an expert, explained that we have two main ways of dealing with the water: 1. Water will be sold to industries who have strict limits on drawing groundwater for their uses – this will generate some revenue and the industries will take away the water at their own cost and transport. This practice is on at Mahatma Gandhi Medical College and Research Institute. 2. Water will be piped back to our own township for horticulture – we plan to plant avenue trees and gardens, we will NEED all that water, especially in Summer. Over time, we will even share that water with houses for their irrigation through drip-irrigation tubes.
9. We are conscious of Karikan Nagar resident’s health and will not compromise on their safety. The STP will not jeopardise their health in any way.
10. We have no previous separate association ‘managements’, we are a continuum and the past should not hold the future hostage. Let us look forward for cooperation and we invite Karikan Nagar to be equal stakeholders and partners in the STP. In future, Sepage from Karikan Nagar can also be processed at OUR STP, serving both of our communities. We will ensure the complete satisfaction of Karikan Nagar residents.
11. We will, from time to time, also contribute in many ways to the welfare of Karikan Nagar, in improving their living standards, safety, and livelihood. We will commit some resources for their development too, as part of our community social responsibility and ensure all-round development of the entire panchayat. Anugraha Satellite Township will always be an overall contributor and big supporter of this Panchayat’s wellbeing, not a drain or burden for anyone. We will be generous with both heart and resources and we expect only the generosity of heart from Karikan Nagar. Let us match our generosity and march together.

We will post some documents here shortly.

Where do we go from here:

We will have another peace meeting chaired by the Sub Collector (I quote him: ‘Welcome to the world of negotiations’) and we look forward to resolving this issue to both our communities’ satisfaction. There has been a delay, but that is expected. We are still on schedule since we had made provisions in the project planning for such contingencies.

Let us all prosper.

Secretary

Meeting with Karikan Nagar Representatives

Dear Friends, today we had a meeting with Karikan Nagar representatives. They had earlier threatened to block further development of STP.

We patiently explained and addressed their concerns, sought their cooperation and extended our warmest invitation to collaborate with us on Panchayat basis instead of divisiveness.

We hope the message of cooperation would win over the argument of strife with them. They have said they will go and consult with their wider community and asked us to convey to you all their main demand: that we must reconsider the site of STP, stop further work and relocate the STP to a different site.

We said we will give it due consideration. We asked them to collaborate with us as our own request.

This is the first meeting, perhaps we might have to meet a couple more times, but I am sure we will be able to reach amicable settlement.

We had a successful meeting overall. We were able to establish some basic understanding and common grounds.

A word of appreciation for our Karikan Nagar brothers, they were gentlemen today and we had had a mutually respectful exchange, although it did get heated at times, we were able to maintain patience. We will hear from them soon and we hope we will find suitable middle ground.

I am sure we will face even more challenges, but we are also equally geared up and mentally prepared to face them and overcome them all.

We will succeed.

Jai Hind, have a nice evening.

STP Work is On – An Update

Dear Homeowners, Time for a Brief Update:

Our STP work is in full swing. We thank the taskforce members and others who have posted pictures from time to time here and let us visually see the progress. The work is nearing an end and it is already time we planned for the Inauguration. The Collector and Sub Collector could be Chief Guest and Keynote Speakers respectively and can jointly inaugurate the STP (and the fourth line if possible)
We had applied for Power connection (3 Phase and the Fourth Wire) and it will need ongoing follow-up till it is completed.
We have submitted petitions and many Officials including the Collector, Sub Collector, Project Director – Town & Country Planning, Local Planning Authority Head, Block Development Officer, etc. Every day, we have held meetings at one or the other Govt. Office. And on most days, the meetings have been productive, on some days, we are sent into a tizzy. Getting the Government Machinery to work will require a LOT of patience and persistence. We are not giving up and the ONLY THING that is keeping us going is the HUGE SUPPORT OF THE COMMUNITY commensurate with the enormity of the job ahead of us.
The next huge work of REGULARISATION has already begun, we have met a number of officials including the BDO and the Town & Country Planning Authority at Villupuram. We are planning how to go about this huge project. We are learning new facts and procedures and are feeling our way through the bureaucratic maze.
The Executive Body is the Primary Decision Making Authority. We need more members to participate in our proceedings. Please feel free to interact with us all, discuss and help in achieving our important goals for the Association. No decision was and will ever be taken by individuals, but only as a collective. However, prioritisation of work is important. If not, we will waste time and energy in non-productive work with no result.
For the whole of January, a tiny number of volunteers have worked ceaselessly and on a daily basis, and everyday has brought new challenges, both internal and external. There has been a huge drain of energy, time and motivation from these few volunteers. One of my own work is to be there for them and support them with emotional energy. As we face bigger and bigger challenges, we will need even more reassurance that all 400-500 houses are behind the association and we will see through any challenge or difficulty, face any obstacle and overcome it all by sheer force of willpower, planning, work and perfect execution, and above all, the united support of our collective members.
For the moment, we don’t want any diversions or distractions. Once we resolve our existential crisis problems like regularisation and roads, we will have plenty of time to resolve all other pending issues like previous dues and so on. For now, let us stay concentrated on the most immediate and important goal of all: Regularisation. The Association needs clear goals and direction and will not be swayed from this one important work. We will remain firm on this and we request your cooperation. Also, we need to discourage gossiping, irresponsible comments and non-constructive rumour mongering and personal attacks, please.
Once a major part of the STP work is complete, we will present a yearly Budget for the Association, probably in February. We will look at our current expenses critically and will see how best to serve the common interests of all. All finances will be transparently and pro-actively shared with you from time to time in open public. If you have any queries or doubts, you are free to ask them in the wide public so that we can have complete transparency and accountability. In return, the Association can perform ONLY if it has funds. We will all have to contribute our part. Some may question the need for contributing maintenance funds, some would doubt it being spent correctly, some may even ask why they should contribute while many other don’t or haven’t in the past. It is time to put all those doubts aside for a limited time and contribute. We will have a General Body Meeting to discuss that issue threadbare, we assure you. For now, please contribute without reservations, without excuses, without delays. Once contributed, you are free to question its use and audit it for yourself. But please contribute. Everybody has to contribute so that we can all benefit. Don’t think anybody is paying for somebody else. It is for our own good.
Right now, we are fighting a battle for regularisation. We think our back is protected and taken care of by all our houseowners. If Association maintance charges are not voluntarily contributed, it will mean that our small army of volunteers will have to wage war on two fronts, with no ammunition. The external front with the Government for regularisation and an internal front with our own members to collect maintenance money. You can imagine the outcome. Neither will be a success.
Make no mistake, REGULARISATION might not even be possible due to various reasons. We cannot take it for granted. The outcome is not assured. We may all fail to get our township and plots regularised before the deadline. The risk is too high and all too real. This is the reality. It is also a reality that we can overcome this and get things done. We have a choice now, soon we may not have that choice. The choice is to work hard and get our regularisation done, or just take it easy and miss this chance that the Govt. has opened. All depends on our support, both moral and financial for ourselves. May we succeed.

Have a great festival!

Thank you.

Plans for New Year 2018

Dear Houseowner Friends, I take this opportunity to let you know that we met the BDO on direction from Collector. The BDO spoke with us for an hour or so and we now have a fairy better idea of our situation.
He insisted that we make it know to all that we should not fall prey to anybody asking for money in the name of house or other tax, patta or any other revenue related work.
A taskforce is working on a comprehensive plan, collecting details and will discuss with you all soon.once we have sufficient reliable information.

Here are our plans for 2018nin brief:

First finish what we started, before we take up any new work. So: STP still is our main priority till it is fully functional. Followed by Electricity 4th Wire and then, Regularisation.
We cannot do much about the roads till we are regularised.

On Administrative side, we would like to streamline our operations based on good management principles – reduce Muda, Muri and Mura.
Create Budget, fiscal planning, investment and responsible expenditure.
We wish to expand our financial base in a non confrontational way and see if we can voluntarily recover old dues.
We will shortly distribute feedback forms, please fill them: They will be used as a GBM surrogate to make a few critical decisions.
We will expand on the above as we progress.
Thank you and have a great first week of the year!
Jagan Mohan

New Dawn, New Day, New Year

As the first rays of the new year’s Sun reaches our township, it is time to wake up to new possibilities for all of us, houseowners of Anugraha.
It is time to recommit ourselves to Unity so that we can face the challenges ahead.
Regularisation, Electricity and Roads are our priorities and expanding our funding base is one of the most important task among numerous others.
The Executive committee will continue to rely on all owners to contribute their share of both funds and some volunteering to see us through this new year.
May we all succeed together.
Jai Hind.

Power Issue – Exploring Option for Sub-Station at our OSR Park

We approached the TAMIL NADU GENERATION AND DISTRIBUTION CORPORATION LTD (TANGEDCO) to explore the possibility of installing a Sub Station in our Township to resolve the long-standing Power issues.

We also met with Top Officials of TANGEDCO in Chennai – including the EE, Planning and explained our grievances. We were given a patient hearing and steps are being taken to explore the option.

We offered TANGEDCO, the use of our vacant OSR park land behind the Township to the west for locating the Sub Station.

Based on our input, TANGEDCO has directed the Superintending Engineer, Cuddalore District to survey the land and make recommendations.

Today, 05 December 2017, a team of TANGEDCO Officials: SE, EE, AD, AE along with Power Grid Officials visited our STP Site and spent more than an hour and analyzed the suitability of the location for the Substation.

We will keep pushing for better power connectivity and we have been assured solutions soon.