Middle class families turn victims of real estate mafia

Akiveedu: A considerable number of middle class families have been caught in the web of real estate mafia that spread its tentacles in Akiveedu mandal over the last few years. The real estate mafia has been selling house sites in illegal layouts in Akiveedu, Ajjaram and Dumpagadapa villages apart from other areas in the district. 

With no approval from the District Country and Town Planning (DCTP) for their sites, the middle-class people who purchased the sites have been facing difficulty in getting loans from banks to construct houses.  

The Panchayat officials who have to take action against the illegal layouts had been failed to curb the real estate mafia. Some people have formed a syndicate in Akiveedu and started the layouts in and around Akiveedu town.

 They have occupied even the Panchayat roads in the villages including Akiveedu and have divided the land as house sites without any conversion. The real estate syndicate has targeted the middle-class people by announcing that these plots were approved by DCTP without mentioning the Grama Panchayats. 

Believing their campaign, the middle-class people have purchased those lands in Akiveedu, Dumpagadapa and Ajjaram villages. The syndicate had divided the site of a rice mill near a canal bund in Akiveedu and converted it as house sites in the prime locality.

 The mafia has purchased the site for Rs 7 lakh per cent (48 square yards) as it is the main area from where fish trading going on. The mafia has formed separate roads after occupying the Panchayati road.
 
The people who purchased the sites are now facing hardships in getting bank loans. Moreover, the Panchayat has denied providing water and drainage facilities as there was no permission for the house construction. 

As per the rules, the real estate people should construct a road of 33 feet width and should allot 10 percent of the layout site to the Grama Panchayati for community purpose. In Major Panchayat, the layouts should have 40 feet roads. However, in these villages including the major Panchayati of Akiveedu, no such rules were followed by the realtors. 

When the realtors ready to register the plots in the name of purchasers, the middlemen enter into the fray and make the document registered in the offices unabatedly even there was no panchayat approval and DCTP approval.

A middle-class businessman said on condition of anonymity that these realtors have spread their activities in Akiveedu mandal vastly and doing crores of rupees business with the unauthorised layout plots. “No panchayat officials ask them about the permissions. The DCTP officials also have no interest to verify the ongoing illegal activities even the realtor mafia using their names,” he complained.

“I am tempted to purchase the site in the prime area offered by the realtors. However, in the last minute I came to know that those layouts have no permissions either from the Panchayati or of DCTP.” he added.When asked, Akiveedu village secretary Tagore said, “We have received the information about the illegal layouts.  

As and when we receive the information, we set up warning boards in those layouts,” he said. The Panchayati did not give permissions to those layouts, he clarified.