Notice Issued to DPS Housing Society Dwarka

U R G E N T N O T I C E

Dear DPS Housing Society Members,

We are pleased to inform you that our struggle to save the Society’s people from the proposed extended construction-related pollution and disturbance has entered a new phase.

With the following notice, we hope to thwart all attempts being made by some members of the Society to start harmful construction and construction-linked repairs.

You are also encouraged to join this cause which will save our Society’s men, women, and children from the hazardous effects of dust and noise pollution.

We have already sent this notice via speed post to the stated recipients. We hope it will work. But if didn’t, we assure you that we will soon intensify our campaign.

We wish you all the very best.

To

1. Mr. Neeraj Vaish
President
DPS Cooperative Group Housing Society
Plot No. 16, Sector 4, Dwarka
New Delhi 110 078

2. Mr. M.N. Sampath Kumar
Secretary
DPS Cooperative Group Housing Society
Plot No. 16, Sector 4, Dwarka
New Delhi 110 078

3. Registrar Cooperative Societies (RCS) [For Information and Necessary Action]

Old Court Building, Parliament Street
New Delhi 110 001

Subject: Stop Plans to Carry Out Illegal Extended Construction Activity in the Society Building

April 10, 2017

Dear Mr. Neeraj Vaish, Mr. M.N. Sampath Kumar, and other Managing Committee (MC) members of the DPS Cooperative Group Housing Society,

We, the undersigned members of the DPS Cooperative Group Housing Society, bring the following points to your notice:

1. That despite our repeated requests to stop the planning for extended construction activity under ambiguous floor area ratio (FAR) rules, you have been constantly communicating about your decision to carry out such construction, which will be harmful to people living in the Society building.

2. That in your letter dated March 28, 2017 regarding minutes of the special general body meeting held on Sunday, March 26, 2017, you have once again mentioned about building extension which you have cleverly combined with building repairs – under Agenda Point No. 2 of the said letter. As this is a part of your ploy to start extended construction under the garb of building repairs, we refuse to accept your decision.

3. That in the same letter dated March 28, 2017, you have mentioned about the appointment of M/s Vivek & Arti Architects for the building repair / construction activity. As your decision to appoint this firm is arbitrary and capricious, we cannot accept any findings of this firm or any other firm that you hire without following the statutory guidelines.

4. That your communication to Society members about the advertisement dated April 6, 2017 that you have placed in a newspaper regarding ‘repair and extension’ is another example of the shady and dishonest way in which the present and previous MCs have been operating. The said advertisement conceals more than what it reveals, as you have not even mentioned the name of our Society in it, besides numerous other flaws. This advertisement has no meaning for us.

5. That you have deceptively linked the extended construction with massive building repairs so that all the residents must acquiesce to your diktats and shell out money worth hundreds of thousands of rupees. Since we strongly oppose the proposed extended construction, we do not want you to link it with building repairs.

6. That you must know that extended construction will cause severe environmental hazard with dust and noise pollution in the Society, which will be harmful to men, women, and children – including senior citizens and patients living in the building.

7. That you are depriving the residents of their fundamental human right to live in a pollution-free environment guaranteed in the Constitution of India by way of Article 21.

8. That the MC’s decision of extended construction under the garb of floor area ratio (FAR) rules also contravenes the observations of the National Green Tribunal (NGT) of India. NGT observes that one of the major sources of air pollution is dust emission from construction activities, which must be stopped to avoid pollution-related diseases and deaths.

9. That the proposed extended construction activity will also be a blatant attack on the environment-protection policies of the Government of India, as the government is committed to protect the environment in order to minimize the adverse effects of Climate Change.

10. That you must know that no activity can be legal if it poses a risk to even one person’s life. The truth is that the extended construction-related pollution will put to risk the lives of dozens of people living in the Society.

11. That the extended construction-related dust and noise pollution will also fatally disturb the sick people and senior citizens who always stay at home. So, extended construction – if carried out – will be an illegal and immoral activity.

12. That your extended construction proposal is driven by greed, and not by need, as very small families want to add more rooms in their flats. In many cases, the number of rooms will be more than the number of family members in a flat. Therefore, you are not supposed to plan extended construction by putting others’ healths and lives to risk for your own greed.

13. That in order to win the support of others, you have been allowing various illegal activities – including defiance of court orders – in the Society to members who have become part of your rogue majority group. Your such acts are cognizable offences according to the Indian laws.

14. That even if the majority of the members agree for extended construction, their decision cannot be accepted because it will endanger the health and lives of others.

15. That in order to rope in the members who oppose extended construction, you have been threatening them so that they should accept extended construction under coercion. In fact, besides various other threats, you have even filed false police complaints against some members who oppose your illegal extended construction project. You are advised to desist from such acts of criminal intimidation. And you should not force any member to sign any kind of no-objection certificate (NOC).

16. That we do not want you to carry out any repairs in the Society building in a freewheeling and opaque manner, as it was done in a repair project that happened around 2011 and in which the MC wasted over Rs. 30 lakh. The financial records and supporting documents of that project are still not available.

17. That the necessary repairs can be carried out in the building by following all the statutory purchase and financial guidelines in a totally transparent manner. For this purpose, a competent committee must be formed with some members from our group that opposes extended construction and which cannot be carried out in the building. This type of unbiased ‘repairs-only committee’ must be formed in order to protect the principles of natural justice.

18. With this notice, we advise you to stop planning about any extended construction or any other similar construction-related activity in the Society building. You are also advised to inform all members within seven (7) days from the receipt of this letter about your decision regarding the stoppage of the planning and process related to extended construction or any other similar construction-related activity.

19. In case you ignored our advice and continued with your extended construction, etc. planning or activity, we will be left with no other option but to take legal action against all the MC members – which will be done at your own risks and expenses.

Yours sincerely

DPS Housing Society Members

Residents of other group housing societies in Dwarka or Delhi who are being similarly harassed by their MCs can download the copy of this notice for their reference and response.

All the members and residents of DPS Housing Society Dwarka are invited to fill in the following form.