No flat, no vote: Noida flat buyers protest delay in possession

Irked by the delay in possession, the flat buyers of Noida on Sunday morning took out a protest march against the Uttar Pradesh government for not acting against the Noida realtors.

The intensified protest followed by the bike and car rally was led by umbrella body of the home buyers, Noida Extension Flats Welfare Association (NEFOWA) and alleged that the government has not taken any action against the Noida realtors even after several complaints.

Taking advantage of the forthcoming UP assembly elections, the flat buyers have started a campaign: "No House No Vote" and have insisted them to choose NOTA (none of the above) option in the assembly polls.

At around 11 am, members of Noida Extension Flats Welfare Association (NEFOWA) gathered at Noida Stadium and led a rally by placing placards and posters in the front of bikes and cars.

Hundreds of flat buyers with their vehicles participated in the rally which ended after visiting the sites of all such builders in Greater Noida West who failed to deliver the possession of flats on time.

Indrish Gupta, Co-Founder, NEFOWA, said: "It looks like the present Uttar Pradesh Government has totally neglected the interest of lakhs of middle class home buyers in Noida. We have raised concerns about the delay in handing over of flats to many government officials but no one has come forward to help us. Our complaints have always fallen on deaf ears."

Rough estimates indicate that the area will likely enable the shifting of 1.5 lakh buyers once this lot is handed over. By the time all the apartment in Noida Extension, now known as Greater Noida (west), are handed over and people start occupying them, the area could witness a population shift of 5-6 lakh.

"Neglecting the interest of such a large number of middle class people could be due that a large number of these people do not have powers to vote for the Noida or Greater Noida candidate as they mostly belong to other states. Once we get the possession of our homes and become eligible to vote for the local person, we will remember who has neglected our interest and who has come forward to help us," added gupta.

According to NEFOWA, builders have already extended the possession date of their projects by an estimated six to seven years. Most of them are eventually bearing the burden of rent as well as EMI. Some alleged that the builders have diverted funds to other businesses, leading to delay in completing the housing projects as per the schedule.