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Voluntarily Self-organised cum Self-made Housing Project in India Building of our housing complex is a rare story Compiled & Written by Subrata Banerjee It takes each of us to make difference for all of us

Voluntarily self organised cum self-made housing project in india

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Page 1: Voluntarily self organised cum self-made housing project  in india

Voluntarily Self-organised cum

Self-made Housing Project in India

Building of our housing complex is a rare story

Compiled & Written by Subrata Banerjee

It takes each of us to make difference for all of us

Page 2: Voluntarily self organised cum self-made housing project  in india

After deciding and developing a lawful alternative way,

the team achieved the common goal of buildinga residential housing estate at bare cost price.

Birth of a new housing complex with durable design and elegant elevations, by not depending on

conventional vendor carrying on the trade of dealing in apartments built viz. Promoter or Developer,

became possible.

It is the journal of a volunteer,who is the writer of this story of solving the

problem of shelter of sixty families.

It contains a record of what has happened over the period of making of our housing complex.

It includes important dates and references and writer’s experiences, and thoughts or feelings, including comments on

related events.

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Voluntarily Self-made Housing Project in India: Buildingof our housing complex is a rare story

We formed Baghbazar Housing Association for the one shot

programme of the construction of our housing complex and it was formed as

a non-profit organisation. Truly speaking, the governing body members, as

volunteers of BHA, worked towards building own housing complex without

expectation to receive compensation for services rendered there at.

Moreover, our project may be categorised as ‘self-organised’ and

‘self-made’ housing project, which means that it was co-financed by the

future users only and the apartments were made to cover the real needs of

the founder-members of the project. The project was ‘self-organised’ as

because we took the assistance of professionals viz., (a) advocates for legal

advices as well as documentations, (b) consulting architect for architectural

drawing and planning, preparation of bill of quantities and bid documents,

sanctioning of plan, periodical supervision, (c) contractors for the entire

construction of housing complex including plumbing and electrical work, lift

Installation, etc. The project is ‘self-made’ as because we have done the

remaining works of the project of our own initiative, viz., (1) finding out

optimum number of co-owner-members (sixty co-sharers), (2) organising

purchase of a residential plot under sixty deeds of conveyance, (3) uniting

the co-owner- members for carrying out their duties and responsibilities on

various understandings, self-imposed norms, acts and deeds for smooth

construction, (4) fulfilling pre-conditions for plan sanctioning and obtaining

NOC from different departments of CIT, ULC, KMC etc. for successful

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Sanction of Plan, (5) achieving the rest of the work upto handing over of the

project in the hands of the beneficiaries.

A positive surprise about the project was its high architectural calibre

as well as its potential in providing access to affordable housing. This project

offers strong proofs that good design and elegant elevations of the buildings

etc. are not a monopoly of private high cost real estate. The opinions of the

people (co-owners and their families) inhabiting this incredible housing

complex are very positive and praiseworthy and the reactions of the local-

society around us is encouraging particularly for its participatory planning

especially in solving own housing problem on the basis of bare cost sharing.

So, the study of history on ‘building our housing complex’ is important

because we share a common experience with the other co-owners that

binds us together.

The past period (pre-construction and construction period), which is

of the most vital experience in every second of our living in this housing

complex, can teach us more about the duties to be performed for keeping

our housing in a living condition.

I personally believe that discussion on past affairs specifically on

‘building our housing complex’ should never be confused with nostalgia. It is

written not to remind the ‘bygone days’, but to inspire our present living in

this housing complex. Symbolic recapitulation of the past is of course an

unavoidable aspect of all human attempts to make sense of the present.

I sincerely believe that when there is co-operation and faith,

wonderful things can be achieved. Moreover, a strong conviction will give us

the courage to stand for our beliefs even in adversity. If you want to know

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more on what strength that co-operation and conviction can really provide,

kindly read this article on “Building of our housing complex”.

Establishing a clear vision to achieve a common goal:

A few youths, driven by a wishful thinking that they, by no means, will

leave Baghbazar and must solve their housing problem here at Baghbazar,

and as such vowed to stay at Baghbazar locality. Focussing around a coveted

parcel of land, they started to consolidate their efforts for purchasing that

land by uniting interested persons to achieve the common goal of building a

residential housing estate there at bare cost price.

We know that a vision is the capability to see beyond the current

reality, creating and inventing what cannot now be perceived. The vision set

by one of the forerunners was able to ignite the required inspiration to me

for uniting other interested persons in purchasing the land and making the

prediction of building this housing complex into a reality.

Depending only on their honesty, integrity and sincerity, hard labour

and endless perseverance, the organisers gradually convinced some other

interested people that they could and would translate their desire into

action. “Own the land jointly and build apartments by united efforts at cost

price for own residential purpose” – this principle of joint endeavour was

announced. After a prolonged struggle of ups and downs, the endless

patience and never-ending continuous efforts bore results and at last sixty

apartments of more or less equal size and facilities by spending equal costs

of construction had been built up.

Patience is not only the ability to wait but also the ability to keep

good attitude and our co-owners knew that patience was bitter but its fruit

would be sweet. So, all the co-owner-members showed endless patience,

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good attitude and also extended unstinted support even in the critical

phases of the project which ultimately paved way for the successful

completion of the project – the slowly grown sweetest fruit for which they

waited.

That transparency always gives rise to a mutual trust and brings about

the success of any venture is proved once again by successful handing over

of the apartments to respective owners. We can rightfully claim to hold a

very high position in the category of ‘voluntarily self-made housing projects’

in India. Setting a clear vision for a project and ability to gather more

frontrunners and interested people around that vision was a breakthrough

achievement – that must be admitted.

Locational advantages also contributed :

“Don’t buy the house, buy the neighbourhood’ – once said one of my

friends. He also added his caution “Fancy projects in poor locations are still

subject to all the negatives of the poor location”. But in case of our project

site, we got various basic and peripheral advantages as noted below:

The site of the Baghbazar Housing Complex is one of the most

coveted places for residential projects that are located in Uttar Kolkata

(originally Sutanuti area). In the history of Kolkata and its process of

urbanisation, Baghbazar occupies a unique place. This is the place where a

wonderful mixture of traditional heritage and modernity always flows

without any interruption. Neighbourhood is also very peaceful. The charm

of Baghbazar, as the locality of dwelling place, is virtually incomparable for

its versatile glories.

Centred around Mayer Bari and Mayer Ghat at Ganga River side, it's

all within a five-minute walk in Bagbazar. Siddheswari Mandir, Udbodhan

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building, Nivedita’s house, Gaudiya Math, Balaram Mandir, Girish Ghosh’s

quaint building, Basu Bari (a palatial residence of Sri Nanada Lal Bose) etc.

all are situated at a stone's throw distance from the housing complex. The

entire region of Baghbazar is being marked off as a ‘heritage zone’ and

Kolkata Municipal Corporation is going all out to create the ambience for

one of the city's historic sites. The civil society of Baghbazar is proud of its

so-called “para culture” and over all peaceful ambience. Naturally, because

of the historical, social and cultural heritages of Baghbazar, the local people

feel attached to this place and are proud of being Baghbazarian. To my

mind, locational advantages also contributed vitally towards the success of

this project.

Overview of the Project:

All basic civic amenities, facilities and utilities that we need for daily

life are freely available here at Baghbazar. Especially, availability of daily

markets, post offices, banks, hospitals, schools, colleges, terminus for buses,

railway stations, metro stations, river transport, etc. is close by the project

site. Even airport is not far off from our housing estate. Proper drainage and

sewerge system, no water logging, supply of filtered water, regular garbage

disposal, plenty street lights etc. are either already arranged or maintained

since long.

The project offers to its residents well-planned and well-designed

multi-storied buildings (five) and apartments (sixty) with excellent interior

and exterior elevations, that are best suited for a premium lifestyle of

middle class people. People, who ultimately joined and afterward became

co-owners of the parcel of land for building apartments, now made it their

ultimate dwelling place. Modern amenities like 24 hours filtered water,

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parking lots, lifts, and Association’s room made the owners’ life extremely

cosy.

Governing Body and attempts to make it a team:

For any organisation, formal structures are absolutely inevitable for

having a status of legal entity. But in case of Baghbazar Housing Association

(BHA), due to not having any registration under any Act, it is based on

informal structure of organisation defining no power or duties and

responsibilities to be performed by the office bearers as normally found in

any concerned Act. The registration is essential at least for opening bank

accounts, and gives recognition to the Association before all authorities and

parties. Practically, Baghbazar Housing Association had no authority to enter

into a contract or agreement with anybody or with any agency or party. The

real character of BHA was “a mere aggregate of individuals” without any

valid authority from members. In absence of all these benefits or statutory

requirements, BHA had to perform. This is something which is unique in any

property development scenario with heterogeneous co-owners.

It is known that BHA was deliberately created through a notarised ‘Co-

owners Agreement’ but it has got no written rules and procedures to govern

nor any formal election process for the formation of the Governing Body

annually. No bye-laws were there specifying the manner to be followed

either on maintaining the accounts or auditing the said accounts by external

auditor.

The fact is that the responsibility of the governing body of BHA was

simply limited only to ‘rendering the accounts quarterly to members”

(clause no. 8 of Agreement Between Co-owners for Construction).

Moreover, no ‘bye-laws’ were there about the mode of publication of such

accounts. This was one of the major weaknesses of the said “Co-owners 8

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Agreement”. In spite of that the management of the fund, collected for

making this housing complex, ultimately met the demand of the project

otherwise the whole show would have been spoiled.

In addition to that, it was not the properly formed organisation based

on any past credentials or experiences. In practice, it was seen that different

Governing Body members had different personalities, and many of them

might require the social motive to bring out the best of them. Even,

perceptions regarding what were threats and opportunities also differed.

Amidst these irregularities, work for housing complex started.

As an amateurish endeavour, the members of the Governing Body of

BHA, started operation through a series of meetings with the co-owner

members with the stated aim of developing and promoting the mission of

building our housing complex. By working out on their ability to perform

and by expanding their united efforts, the Governing Body of BHA gradually

got confidence for building the self-organisational strategies incessantly to

achieve the target.

The Governing Body (afterwards including its permanent invitees) of

BHA was a body that supported the steering of its actions for the fulfilment

of its mission of building the housing complex at the targeted site. Its main

concern was in making strategic decisions concerning (1) organisation of co-

owners and (2) management of different agencies viz., various contractors

including consulting architect etc. and in making those decisions executed

properly. It was practically a co-ordinating agency for the co-owners and a

steering committee for the others.

Successfully managing a construction project requires a project plan, a

project schedule, a monitoring arrangement, and managing the changing

events of the projected plan. Moreover, uniting a full team of diverse

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individuals was not an easy task for the Governing Body, but they took the

appropriate actions in the interest of success of our project. The Governing

Body assessed and accepted all the ways and means or changes thereof by

means of consensus and gradually acquired appropriate knowledge of

suitable work manual and procedures for the project.

Every team needs to be driven by a deeply rooted sense of mission -

shared team goals. In case of our project, it was that team objectives that

bound the team together and kept it cohesive even when obstacles or

internal disagreements stood on the way. We cultivated all sensible

democratic norms for building an active team for our mission. So,

establishing a common goal and building an effective team did not just

happen easily.

Another common problem with the team was that the responsibility

of individual as a member of the Governing Body was not always well

defined. This had sometimes led to inactivity as participants waited for

additional guidance. Sometimes, the weaknesses as noted above had a

tendency to defeat the purpose of having a team. But, adhering to the best

practices of democratic understanding, we ensured a successful relationship

between the co-owners and the Governing Body and thus, the project of

construction of our residence had completed successfully.

Glimpses of our struggle:

We, the Governing Body including all co-owners, collectively have

developed our housing property under our voluntarily self-made and self-

laboured scheme: “Own the land jointly and build apartments by united

efforts at cost price for own residential purpose”. Birth of a new housing

complex, consisting of sixty (60) apartments ( more or less of equal size) by

not depending on conventional vendor carrying on the trade of dealing in 10

Page 11: Voluntarily self organised cum self-made housing project  in india

apartments built viz. Promoter or Developer, became possible in a most cost

effective manner. Since the very beginning, apartment-owners, all of Bengali

Community, are living here. This unique success of united effort became a

legend in the matter of solving own housing problem.

While approaching different departments of local statutory bodies,

in connection with the purchase of land and erection of civil construction

especially for residential purpose, viz. Registrar of Assurances, C.I.T, Urban

Land Ceiling Dept., K.M.C, even housing loan disbursement agencies i.e.

Nationalised Banks, for affirmation, permits, clearance, approval or

sanction, we have faced problems solely due to this unconventional and

uncommonness of this project : a self-made project with active participation

of co-owners obeying lawful alternative way of building own apartment.

Ultimately, all of the authorities concerned have welcomed the project and

done their respective duties and we have thus completed our dream

project.

In order to plan the entire project work conveniently, it has already

been agreed that for the purpose of construction of the 60 (sixty)

apartments along with related development of the housing complex, the

entire project had been divided into two phases i.e.

1. Pre-construction Period of 30 months Phase - 1,

(Consolidation of Willing Buyers, Purchase of land, Groundwork for Construction inclusive of Sanctioned Plan)

2. Construction, Post Construction Period of 48 months Phase - 2.

(Construction and its Completion, Hand-Over & Commissioning)

It's easy to destroy but hard to build. Why does practically everything

take longer time to create than to destroy? It is said that creation is a

positive term, loaded with notions of order and directed effort. In

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comparison with the hard nature of our project, we were compelled to

justify the time period that has elapsed for the completion of the project.

Details of items where the amounts of the cost of construction

(phase wise) were spent are noted below:

Expenditure/ cost on phase - 1 includes meeting expenses, searching,

advertisement in newspapers, legal expenses, lawyers’ fees, documentation

and copyright expenses, cost of land as per memo of consideration,

donation and brokerage, architect fees, drawing charges, clearance of urban

land ceiling dept. and C.I.T, road survey, conveyance, registration fee, stamp

charges for registration of deed and various documents, municipal tax for

land, electrical expenses, watchmens’ salary, mutation charges, printing and

stationary, plan fee to KMC etc. Bhumi Puja.

Expenditure/ cost on phase - 2 includes meeting expenses, electricity

charges, conveyance, soil testing, piling for plinth, water connection

charges, printing and stationary charges, salary to watchmen and project

engineers, postage and telegramme charges , various professional charges,

bank charges, legal expenses, corporation tax and fees, transformer

installation, furniture and fittings, sewerage fee and charges, cost of civil

construction, power supply, electrification of apartments and complex, lift

installation, architectural charges, rule 25 charges etc.

Salient points on phase-wise progress of the project:

1. To solve their housing problem, some interested persons joined hand

in hand, decided all necessary measures unanimously for building own

residential apartments conjointly and in due course purchased a land

(measuring 2978.957 Sq.Mtr.) during May, 2001. Each sharer (subsequently

member/co-owner) is the owner of an undivided proportionate 1/60th part

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of the premises no.2, Ananda Chatterjee Lane, Kolkata-700003, having

purchased the same under 60 (sixty) several deeds of conveyance.

2. Each member/co-owner, in persuasion of his/her intention to build up

own residential apartment jointly, made and notarised a CO-OWNERS’

AGREEMENT, in September 2001, agreeing to comply with various

understandings, self-imposed norms, acts and deeds for the smooth

construction of the apartments including final allotment of the same as well

as formation of the Owners’ Association in conformity with the provision of

the West Bengal Apartment Ownership Act, 1972.

3. Each member/co-owner, after purchasing the said land, jointly by

executing Power of Attorney, in September 2001, registered before the

Registrar of Assurances, Kolkata unanimously appointed two owner-

members as their Constituted Attorney for the purpose of several acts and

activities with the different Statutory Bodies and others concerned for the

construction of their apartments on the said premises.

4. A few forerunners formed an Association, on April, 2001, under the

name and style of Baghbazar Housing Association. The newly formed

governing body, after obtaining ratification and endorsement of all other co-

owners, notarised that Association in September 2001 under a deed of ‘CO-

owners Agreement for Construction’. The governing body of BHA was

entrusted with the responsibility to formulate and to supervise all the

necessary steps for the purpose of construction of buildings, appointment of

contractor(s) including the collection of the ‘bare cost of construction’ from

its members as well as disbursement of the same from the collective fund

and also for the allotment of respective apartments in the said buildings to

the co-owners. After the handing over of the apartments to its owners, the

above said Baghbazar Housing Association (unregistered organisation) was

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succeeded by Baghbazar Housing Apartment Owners’ Association in

November 2007.

5. By way of allotment process viz., lottery, the respective apartments of

the buildings (five) were allotted. All the co-owners have agreed to

demarcate and /or earmarked their respective apartments in terms of the

building plan, sanctioned by Kolkata Municipal Corporation on 08.07. 2003.

6. Arrangement of Bank Loan was another milestone for our success. It is

very important to have legally established ownership of the property to

avail of the Housing Finance. Financing Institutions generally rely on the

legal scrutiny report especially on the title of applicant’s property. At that

time, our entire property was under joint interest and we were all

shareholders of that joint property (one-sixtieth part of whole). In spite of

that we had managed the Bank Loan for individual apartments. We have

made impossible possible because of the uniqueness of this project. We

proved that it was possible to do things beyond our capabilities when the

intention is honest.

7. Co-Owner members, by their united efforts have finally completed the

construction of the said residential complex having five (5) buildings (Land

utilisation: covered area- 48.194 % and open area- 51.806 % of the net area

of land, FAR consumed 98.55 %, comprised of sixty (60) apartments at the

above said premises, 2, Ananda Chatterjee Lane, Kolkata – 700 003, PS.

Shyampukur for dwelling purpose. (Average Built up Area of each apartment

is 87.66 Sq. Mtr. and Average Covered Area is 93.65 Sq. Mtr along with 1.666

% of individual interest in the common areas and facilities appertaining to

each apartment).

8. In consideration of the sharing of payment of construction costs (truly

speaking: bare cost of construction) including all other charges, the

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Baghbazar Housing Association have granted, conveyed and transferred

each apartment to its respective owners with effect from 1st November,

2007 together with proportionate undivided interest or share in common

areas and facilities according to the nature, scope and extent as defined

under the West Bengal Apartment Ownership Act, 1972.

9. All the co-owners nominated and appointed Sri Subrata Banerjee and

Sri Shyamal Kumar Ash as their Power of Attorney and notarised the

respective deed on 30th July, 2008 to deal and sign all the documents

relating to the registration of the Baghbazar Housing Apartment Owners’

Association in respect of 60 apartments at premises no. 2, Ananda

Chatterjee Lane, Kolkata – 700 003. They were authorised by all the co-

owners to deal with all matters relating to submission of the property

description to the provisions of the West Bengal Apartment Ownership Act,

1972 by registering the Declaration Deed as per Form-A of the concerned

Act.

Afterwards, Co-owners have acquired individual ownership in the

above said Apartments under a Deed of Partition with Conveyance,

registered finally on 07.09.2011 in the Office of the Registrar in Book – 1, C D

Volume number – 43, pages from 2192 to 2437 being number – 11553 for

the year 2011 (Process for the Registration of Partition Deed started in the

month of April, 2010 and completed, after facing acute uncertainties, in the

month of September, 2011).

10. Co-Owner-Members, in order to make their apartments heritable

and transferable and also to ensure its management and maintenance, have

submitted the description of the property to the provisions of the West

Bengal Apartment Ownership Act, 1972, and formed Baghbazar Housing

Apartment Owners’ Association (formed on 25/3/2007 and registered on

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6/3/2012 bearing serial no. 7A of 2012) and unanimously adopted the

byelaws for its smooth functioning.

11. This novel residential housing property was submitted to the

provisions of the West Bengal Apartment Ownership Act, 1972, in March

2009, under a Declaration Deed executed (February, 2012) as per Form- A in

conformity with the provisions of the Act and registered in the Office of the

Registrar, A R A – II Kolkata, Registered in Book – 1, C D Volume number – 6,

Pages from 360 to 388, being no. 01544 for the year 2012.

12. According to the provision of The West Bengal Apartment Ownership

Act 1972, Co-owners have executed an instrument (May, 2012) as per Form

– “C” declaring, defining and demarcating individual ownership of own

apartment and registered the said instrument in the Office of the Registrar,

A R A – II Kolkata, Registered in Book – 1, C D Volume number – 23, pages

from 1100 to 1116, being no. 0 6267 for the year 2012.

13. In the above said statutory declaration, all the owners have already

taken the following oath: “We hereby further solemnly declare and

undertake that we, our heirs, executors, administrators and assigns shall, in

respect of the said Apartment(s), be subject to the provisions of the said Act

and shall comply strictly with the bye-laws made under section 13 of the

said Act and with the covenants, conditions and restrictions set forth in the

said Declaration”.

14. In order to create individual mutation and apportionment as well as

clearing of property tax individually for each apartment from November

2007, as per the provisions of Kolkata Municipal Corporation, each owner-

member is taking necessary steps in doing the needful. The payment of

property tax, as joint property, is already paid upto March, 2014 and the

assessment for property tax, as for individual property, is going on currently.

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15. Being an organizer amongst others, I do hope that you will definitely

appreciate the fact that based only on voluntary endeavour, having no

statutory power and status, having no past experience, the Governing Body

of Baghbazar Housing Association had successfully handed over (in

November 2007) this matchless housing project and thus solved the housing

problem of its members.

Fighting against unscrupulous activities becomes very hard to carry

on:

Many are without shelter of their own. The problem is too large to be

met by the government alone. At least, if people of middle class category

take imitative like ours, they will be able to build their housing property of

their choice at cost price.

I am not denying that with our busy lives, it is very hard to find time to

volunteer. While volunteering at BHA, sometimes I wasted too much time

in useless or unproductive meetings, and sometimes I felt that we were

lacking professionalism and don’t know how to lead. Sometimes, I felt that

we were fondling much or flattering much to satisfy one or two persons not

amenable to reason.

Sometimes, it is seen elsewhere that (1) policy-makers manipulate

existing policy to their own purpose, (2) their unscrupulous activities create

difficulties in running the organisation along the rightful path, and/or (3)

some of their corruptions damage the morale of the organisation by putting

unjust financial burden.

In our case, it was seen that only monitoring and advocacy against

unscrupulous activities yielded very limited results while it harmed, to some

extent, our credibility as organisers. Secondly, in spite of rendering such

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unique achievement, incidences of malpractices of contractors, though

happened in very limited areas, definitely distracted us from reputation and

commendation which were due to us.

At that time, members’ active participation was considered as very

important support in fighting corruption or malpractice. But, the gross

recommendation from the majority of the members was to “stick only to

vital goal of attainment of the progress of the project any way and to keep

entire motivation and energy focusing only on the trouble-free completion

of the construction work any how”. This stand also created weaknesses in

the application of harder weapons of legal or extra-legal means against

corruption or malpractice.

Finally, we learned from experience that in any immature and weak

democratic forum, fighting against corruptions and malpractices becomes

very hard to carry on.

In spite of that, democratic forum with voluntary participation is the

best module for doing welfare work. Because of that, I would like to say

again that helping others while helping ourselves was the best option for us

in solving our housing problem.

Thanks to the visionary - the most ambitious schemer who

ultimately succeeded:

In the year 2000, I met one of the best ambitious schemers, who

practically dreamed about this housing complex at this premises. He

dragged me here for volunteering this project. In due course, myself along

with a few others, ultimately assembled here mainly for his encouragement

for making our “own shelter” here at Baghbazar. Afterwards, his dream

became a vision for us – a vision that created this housing complex. After

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successful completion of the project, I convey my thanks to that “over-

ambitious schemer” who dared to dream about this housing complex. Out

of all the important jobs marked as “most vital” for the smooth starting of

the project- work, he was the fore-runner and pioneer contributor in solving

the initial hurdles of our project.

Thanks to my partner – the vital volunteer who kept company with

me from the very beginning to the end of the project:

In the same year, perhaps at the same time, I also met one self-

declared ‘dark horse’ who made an unwritten partnership on ‘long way to

go’ with me for fulfilling this mission of building our housing project. After

successful completion of the project, I convey my thanks to that “vital

volunteer” who not only walked with me but also cleared several huddles

for the smooth progress of the project.

It is known to me that the deepest principle in human nature is the

craving to be appreciated. If anybody played extraordinarily important

contribution towards the progress of any project, he must be appreciated

exceptionally. In our project, there were other major contributors who also

had done praiseworthy works for this project but the above noted persons

need ‘special mention’ without showing disrespect to other honorable team

members.

Thanks to the Co-owners – who dared to take risk for the “sweet

fruit”:

I am the one who subscribes to the saying “no venture, no gain”. Only

when we take the risks, we do realise our full potential. So, if we want to

achieve something, we have to take risks.

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There would have been no Baghbazar Housing Complex today if

nobody had dared to venture out and thus constructed the new universe at

2, Ananda Chatterjee Lane, Kolkata – 700 003. There would not have been

sixty numbers of unique apartments if everybody had played it safe on the

ground. We would not have any co-owner members and so friendly

neighbourhood if we had not taken the risks of investing here for our

shelters. That is why; we should also thank all the co-owners.

Various risk factors and our preparations:

What shall be the ‘critical risk’ associated with the construction of our

housing? This was the prime question amongst us throughout the days of

the project. Management risk, project completion risk, risks involving our

ability to deliver as per specified terms, quality parameters, transparency

and standardisation – all those risk factors were there and we had to fight

out all those risks in our own style and capabilities.

In addition to that we had to develop a gross understanding of the

legal aspects that encompass the activities from our ability to plan the entire

scheme upto the completion of the construction of our housing as well as

handing over the same to its respective owner-members. We were

compelled to learn almost a clear concept of related ethics and to apply

those ethics in the practice of this real estate activity. Also, we had to

maintain a code of ethics in understanding the conflict of interests of

different agencies and other vested persons or bodies for the just success of

this project.

Everybody dreams, but not equally:

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We made our housing complex that was an impossibility to be

materialised, but we ignored all the obstacles and that is why we were able

to do it.

To pursue our dream, at first we challenged the norm – the current

practice of depending on the vendors viz. Promoter – Developer. We decided

to step outside our comfort zone and thus we took vital risks for saving the

cost of the project. Our motto was to build our shelters by self-made

scheme and voluntary supervision and labour that would be most

economical with maximum durability.

At the beginning, interested persons (afterwards most of them

became our co-owners) enquired about our genealogy, solvency and even

about our reputation or scandal, if any. In order to get success, we, the

organisers, utilised our acquaintances and contacts for creating a solid

support-base or peer-group for advancement of our proposal and project.

Primarily, our dreams were personal until we found interested people

to share it. These people became 'Partners or Co-owners' who also shared

and implemented our vision. Some goals require support from others for

rapid success and our Co-owners extended plenty of support in reaching

that goal of building this unique housing complex.

Nothing is more exciting than witnessing or being instrumental, in the

transition of energy - from the abstract to the tangible, from dream to real

housing complex. I am very happy for being instrumental in building this

housing complex.

Naturally, we still believe that the challenges of sharing any dream

with others have less to do with that dream and more to do with the people

who share it with us. Once they can see it, they will support with funds,

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time, effort, counsel and more. We got all these valuable backings from our

Co-owners throughout the crucial period from 2001 to 2007. This legacy is

still continuing.

Matter of commemorations:

(a) Finding the suitable venue for arranging regular meeting is a key

element in perfectly planning the construction of our housing. At that time,

we wanted a venue for our regular meetings that would convey the right

message and compliment the project’s purpose. With highmindness and

generosity, Sri Amrita Kumar Sen and Sri Subrata Sen, our co-owners,

residing at that time at the renowned ‘Sen Bari’, 44, Ramkanta Bose Street,

Kolkata – 700 003, offered their Drawing Room for holding the meetings for

the preparatory work for making of our housing complex.

We considered the offer as a blessing for us. We accepted the offer

forthwith and on different occasions, ultimately utilised almost entire area

of the ground floor for our office cum meeting purpose. We stayed there at

least for three and half years without any rent or any other charges.

As ‘Sen Bari’ is associated with eminent personality, the selection of

this venue as our meeting place created a tremendous impact for building

confidence amongst our members as well as a secured atmosphere amongst

them.

Moreover, it was a convenient venue for easy arrival and created a

positive impression on our credibility as well as a trustworthy place for our

office cum meeting room.

We owe our obligations to the residents of ‘Sen Bari’ for

accommodating us for more than three and half years. Truly speaking, our

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‘meeting room’ also facilitated to a great extent the successful completion

of the construction of our housing complex.

(b) Many dreams are achieved without such sensational stories or

favour but the essential formula remains the same. One cannot lose if one is

ready to lose everything for making a dream come true. We truly followed

this golden rule of success. Persons who are fully aware of various problems,

burdens and compulsions of real estate management, shall understand the

state of affairs we faced at that period.

(c) Proper planning and ability to implement are always perceived to

be the most important items contributing to success. However, there are

many definitions of success. The traditional approach to success in the

construction industry is to focus on the ability to plan and execute projects.

Now, we can say with firm conviction that we, as the organisers, followed

the above said success-parameters honorably and thus met the dominant

success in building our housing complex in the year 2007.

(d) Hence, any attempt to despise or belittle the background of

making this housing complex will be suicidal and any mistake in

remembering the basic character of these ‘voluntarily self-made’ shelters

shall be fatal for future dwelling in this housing complex.

Disclaimer:

History is a mental enterprise; it is the study of human experience in

time. “No reconstruction can ever be the final word, though there is always

room for new evidence and new interpretations to emerge”. I am at one

with this statement and believe that there is always scope for perceiving the

past with different viewpoint.

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I, therefore, neither attempt to write the history of building our

shelters nor try to assess the past activities of Baghbazar Housing

Association. The findings, interpretations, and conclusions expressed herein

are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the

Governing Body of BHA. Based on my personal experience, observation and

noting, I have merely tried herein to narrate the past for engraving the

identity of the birth of this ‘voluntarily self-made housing complex’.

APPENDIX - 1

(A) The Governing Body of the Baghbazar Housing Association, formed on 19.09.2001

1. Dr. Nihar Kanti Rakshit – President,

2. Sri Subrata Banerjee – Vice –President,

3. Sri Raja Roy Choudhury – Secretary,

4. Sri Shyamal Ash – Treasurer,

5. Sri Balai Charan Bera (Sri Biswajit Bera) – Member,

6. Sri Prasanta De, - Member,

7. Sri Bhim Charan Sasmal – Member & Accountant,

8. Sri Haripada De – Member.

(B) Power of Attorney, Power transferred on 26.09.2001

1. Sri Raja Roy Choudhury, 2. Sri Prasanta De.

(C) Permanent Invitees to Governing Body, included in the month of July, 2003

1. Sri Amrita Kumar Sen, 2. Sri Ashok Kumar Dey, 3. Sri Biswajit Saha,

4. Sri Tapan Kumar Ghosh, 5. Sri Nilkantha Mukherjee.

Above noted persons were the volunteers, officially responsible for taking all necessary

steps to have the proposed housing complex materialised at 2, Ananda Chatterjee Lane,

Kolkata – 700 003.

They eventually acquired the functioning-ability to (1) articulate project objectives to co-

owner-members, (2) manage the project, (3) plan and effectively deploy the available

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resources, (4) communicate effectively with co-owner members, contractors, architects

and various local bodies etc., (5) control the finances of the project, including

expenditure monitoring and reporting, (6) supervise and ensure quality of work, (7)

maintain a high level of integrity and create a sense of trust among all stakeholders,

associated with the project, (8) understand the legal issues associated with the

construction of housing and real estate, (9) understand contracts and agreements and

even procedures for dealing with delinquencies/ defaults/ misconducts/ misdemeanours

of contractors, (10) manage conflicts and stress for smooth completion of the project and

handing over. In addition to those proficiencies, they learned the ‘price variation

adjustment method’ for dealing with the price escalations that had taken place on the

contracted price.

You are aware that joint-ownership of property is a double edged sword. It can lead to

legal and financial complications if the co-owners decide to split or give trouble.

Considering the various limitations of joint ownership of a property, kindly imagine the

degree of tensions and anxieties that we suffered as the organisers for the success of this

project. We can only recall the events where programmes were either halted or made

slow due to the compulsions of joint ownership rights. In the event of any disagreement

with any co-owner (if occurred), only moral appeal and prevailing of good sense could

save the rest. Amidst these realities and limitations, BHA performed wonderfully from

2001 to 2007.

From inception to commissioning, the project had gone through various distinct stages

leading to progressive achievement of project objectives wherein each stage demanded

specific inputs, processes and participations concerning mainly the technical and

managerial arrangements. We had to prepare ourselves for the above situations and

provided support as needed. In the matter of various negotiations and meetings with

different contractors, we successfully ensured our project objective: ‘show must go on’.

Experts define project management as "the application of knowledge, skills, tools and

techniques to a broad range of activities in order to meet the requirements of a

particular project." We always tried to update ourselves for the application of the just

process of directing and controlling our project from start to finish.

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APPENDIX - 2

Our Lawyers:

In the matter of purchasing the land, we have taken legal help of Sri Bijoy Krisna Dutta,

Advocate,3/2D, Taltala Lane, Kolkata – 700014, who have helped much in determining

the factors related to pre-purchase decision-making process for verifying the legal status

of the land and the legal work related to purchase of land and registration.

Afterward, starting from the preparation of various legal documents viz. ‘Co-owners

Agreement’ and deed of ‘Power of Attorney’, Sri Subhasis Chakraborty, Advocate, 7B,

Kiran Sankar Roy Road, 1st Floor, Kolkata – 700001, had done all the legal formalities, till

completion and handing over of the apartments to its co-owner/s. On various occasions,

he allowed us to discuss legal queries without professional fees. Practically, he played a

role of organiser like us for making success of this project. Even today also he guides us.

We convey our obligations to him.

Our Consulting Architect:

In order to make the whole process of our construction of housing complex easier, we

have decided on our priorities and preferences at each step. In this regard, we have

discussed with our co-owner members step by step. We have discussed in details on

rooms, bathrooms, store-lofts, verandah, and fittings, lift etc. and any other facility

including its size, purpose, type of finish, cost etc. flooring, electrical and sanitary fittings,

paints, timber etc.

We have also discussed on fund generation, instalment patterns etc. In the matter of

starting planning for the construction, we thus collected primary information on liking-

disliking and budget provision from our co-owner members and asked our Consulting

Architect to design our apartments and housing complex as far as possible to our choices

and budget.

We have deployed Sri Debasis Choudhury, M/s. Akriti Architectural Consultants, 42A,

Harish Mukherjee Road (1st Floor), Kolkata – 700 025 as our consulting architect.

He was the professional who analysed our requirements, prepared first sketches, then

the plan of our apartments and the entire housing complex. He was responsible for

getting the plan sanctioned from KMC. He designed our apartments and the elevation of 26

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our housing to make it look beautiful. He prepared specifications and schedule of

quantities both for civil, plumbing, sanitation and electrical works and prepared bid

documents for submitting tender for selection of civil and electrical contractors. He

guided us through the entire process and periodically supervised the entire project up to

its successful completion. His technical skills and experiences had helped us in cutting

costs of the project as well as successfully completing the project. As a matter of fact, he

worked with us from start to finish as a most vital organiser and without his guidance

perhaps we would not have succeeded. We are indebted to him right from the outset.

Our Site Engineers:

We have deployed two Site Engineers (Building Supervisor) at our site to oversee

construction work, the quality of materials, measurements, checking of bills and

workmanship of contractors mainly the civil contractor. Their inputs were always good

for the safety and durability of our housing complex.

Our Civil Contractor:

After the completion of the tender and bidding process, selection of civil contractor was

made. M/s. Development Engineers’ & Consultants Private Limited, Kolkata -700 033 was

awarded the contract of civil, sanitary and plumbing work of the entire project on 16th

April 2004. They took up the contract for building our housing complex by organising

labour, building materials and equipment for getting the construction work done. They

also laid the water pipes and set up the sanitary fittings, plumbing work and sewerage

lines for our project. At the finishing stage their performances were blameworthy and we

had to do ourselves a small portion of the balance work before handing over to our

members.

Amidst this undesirable situation, one mentionable point that brought favourable impact

on the progress of the construction was the effective role of the then project manager Sri

Debasish Basak.

It is known to us that the project manager is one of the key stakeholders in a

construction site and his competence is a critical factor affecting project planning,

scheduling, execution and communication. The traits of a Project Manager of Civil

Construction include effective communication, self-confidence, willingness to adopt

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collaborative leadership styles, forward looking, sociable and adaptability, honesty and

integrity; and ability to solve problems.

Since very beginning of our construction at site, we found Sri Debasish Basak as the

Project Manager of M/s. DECPL. He gradually proved his capability to assimilate all those

traits, as mentioned above, for the better management of civil construction work

particularly at our site.

Although he had left our site before completion of construction, yet we have no

hesitation to convey our heartfelt thanks to him, particularly for his valuable help

extended to us in determining rationally the remaining work-value of the project and

arranging a new agreement structure on the basis of assessing lump-sum items avoiding

the recording of measurements for various items and work. Due to this change, we

overcame the stalemate situation and the remaining work of the construction started

again at our site. We would like to express our appreciation again for the remarkable

services rendered by him to save our housing project.

Electrical Contractor:

Ideally a licensed electrical contractor should be used to lay the electric lines for any

housing complex. Accordingly, we had appointed M/s. Electric Equipment & Engineering

Co. Kolkata – 700 001 on 13th September, 2004 as our licensed electrical contractor for

internal and external electrical work of our housing complex as per the schedule of items,

quantities and accepted rates. At the finishing stage, their performance was not at par

with the schedule of work already entrusted to them. However, we had to complete

some left over work even after commissioning.

Happy Ending & Dwelling Happily

It is said that an event that has a good ending is good even if some things went wrong

along the way. In our effort to solve our housing-problem along with other co-owners, it

was an ending that finds everyone happy. The joy of such inimitable success had

encouraged all the residents to live here with paramount peace and happiness. A sort of

bondage is already developed amongst the residents of apartments and all are now living

here in good harmony and friendship.

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It is said that ‘eaten bread is soon forgotten’. Still I feel that an assessment on making of

our housing complex is necessary for remembering the extent of preparedness required

and the magnitude of work done at that period by an amateur-team. This writing is my

humble attempt in that direction.

(I have taken plenty of guidance from Sri H. L. Chatterjee and Sri Asim Kumar Chatterjee, the senior residents of our housing complex.

I owe my obligations to them. )Subrata Banerjee2nd October, 2014

Revised Edition: 1st May, 2015E-mail : [email protected]

Mob: 9433153153

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