‘We might end up on footpath now’

All residents gathered at a house at Rudransh apartments after the builders’ arrests

Residents of Rudransh apartments in Virar East, the first to come under the scrutiny of VVMC Assistant Commissioner Ganesh Patil, have blamed the bank for approving the loans based on fake documents. Angry and confused, with the scam rendering them homeless, the residents have two questions: where will they live now and how will they pay back the hefty loans. Many had invested their life's savings in a ‘better home', but they are now left with nothing.

All money lost

Among the many flat buyers at Rudransh is Virender Kumar Yadav, a 48-year-old bus driver. "We owned a chawl at Poonam Nagar in Andheri, which we sold for Rs 14 lakh. We added our life's savings of Rs 6 lakh and bought our new home - a 350-sqft 1bhk at Rudransh in Kopri village," said Suraj Kumar Yadav, 20, who is pursuing BTech under a scholarship programme.

"My mother, Manju Yadav, broke into tears when we heard about the scam. We are distressed now. We are a family of six, including my sister and our grandparents, and we are left with no savings at all," Suraj told mid-day.

Loan of Rs 15 lakh

A family of four - Manoj Chavan, his wife Kalpana Chavan and their two daughters - bought their flat a year ago. "We do fabrication work for a living and used to live nearby in a rented flat. We saw an ad about a 1bhk flat of 380 sqft at Rs 20 lakh. The builder told us that it is approved by RERA and CIDCO. They promised an escalator and free maintenance for a year. We took a loan of Rs 15 lakh from a nationalised bank," said Manoj. Now, the family does not know what their future holds.

First to buy a home

Chotelal Paswan, an auto driver, was the first to buy a flat at Rudransh four years ago, when the building was under construction. "I bought a 1bhk flat on the ground floor, measuring 350 sqft for R14 lakh on EMI. I made a down payment of R4 lakh and was supposed to pay R10 lakh over four years through EMI. Now, R1.5 lakh remains to be paid," he told mid-day. "My entire month's salary goes on paying the EMI. I have my mother, father, wife and three children to take care of. We are scared that we might have to sleep on footpaths if this building gets destroyed," said Paswan.

Rashi Kalwankar, Drisha Chiwilkar, Sakshi Paswan, Poonam Gupta, Rinku Paswan, Tanuj Paswan, Anuj Paswan, Chotelal Paswan and Raju Gupta

Flat for sand

Vijay Solanki, 35, who owns a construction material business along with his uncle, got a flat at Rudransh as compensation against the sand he supplied to the builder. "The material we gave the owner was worth R8 lakh and they didn't pay us in cash. Instead, they asked us to buy a flat in the building for R14 lakh. We paid an additional R6 lakh to get the possession of the flat. This scam deals us a heavy blow."

Terrified

Poonam Gupta, 28, a shop owner, bought a flat two years ago for R17 lakh after taking a loan. She is yet to pay back R14 lakh. "We have a 450-sqft 1 bhk, for which we took a loan of R14 lakh. Last year, the VVCMC destroyed the illegal sixth floor, on the terrace, but gave us no information about the building being illegal. We are terrified of our future now."

55
Approx no of buildings built by accused