Partial Success story of Eastern Heights in Resolving Issues pending with the Builders and the Development Authority

Dear Friends,

Jai Hind,

You are all aware of the fact that most of the Builders have not provided the facilities which they promised in the beginning. The Stilt and the Basement meant for parking has generally been used by most of the Builders for augmenting their commercial interests. Exorbitant maintenance charges are being levied for the maintenance and  for the stand by power in an arbitrary way. Maintenance is not being handed over to the legally constituted RWA. And, to add insult to the injury, in most of the cases, the Builder humiliates the members of the RWA who raise voice for justice. And so on and so forth. Most pertinent example in this regard is Eastern Heights, Indrapuram.

Initially when Eastern Heights approached  the Ghaziabad Development Authority with the aforesaid complaints against the Builder, the GDA did not pay any attention. Subsequently with the persistent efforts of the RWA Federation Ghaziabad, a Nodal Officer was appointed and regular meetings were held. It took literally a great amount of pains to persuade GDA to issue Notices to the Builders to comply with the norms contained in UP Apartment Act 2010. However, in most of the cases, the Builders did not pay any heed to the mild notices issued by the GDA. In case of Eastern Heights, the Builder did not even turn up for the joint meeting leave aside redressing the grievances of the Allottees. Shri  Deep Chandra Pandey & Shri Meva Ram Tyagi and  their team members did not loose heart. They represented in front of the District Magistrate, the GDA  at midnight when their power connection was  arbitrarily disconnected by the Builder.

In view of the above, RWA Federation Ghaziabad wrote to the State Govt and the VC , GDA that if the Builder is not completing the necessary facilities promised by him at the time of launching the Scheme, there is a provision vide clause 33 of the Urban Planning Act 1973 to get the balance work done either by an Independent Agency or by the GDA at the risk and cost of the Builder. Copy of our letter is attached. As a result, the Government has now directed the GDA to comply with our contention ( Copy of the letter from the UP Govt is Attached). The situation in Eastern Heights has not yet become satisfactory but the zeal and zest shown by Shri  Deep Chandra Pandey & Shri Meva Ram Tyagi &  in fighting for justice is praiseworthy, commendable and exemplary.

The above example is being given to convince you that if we continue to raise voice for justice, we are bound to get it. What is needed is unity and team spirit. You are intelligent enough to discern the difference between tutored news and the real work.

- Col Tejandra Pal Tyagi
Chairman, RWA Federation Ghaziabad

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Jolly Maker -1, Cuff Parade, Mumbai

PROFILE of Jolly Maker-1

1. Three Decades Old Apartment Complex, located in Cuff Parade, Mumbai.

2. Two 25 storey Residential Towers, with 175 apartments. 10 Bungalows.

3. Celebrity Residents – Subhash Chandra of Zee, Goenka Family, Patni Family, Salgaocar Family

4. In the News – Sold a flat for 1.11Lakh/sqft – highest as of Feb 2012.  Seller: Jagwani Family. Buyer: Patni Family.

5. Unique Place in Indian Real Estate: Richest Housing Society of India.

WHY is it the Richest Society of India?

By now it is common knowledge that the Residents of Jolly Maker 1 do not pay any Maintenance Charges (other than token 1paisa/sft). Instead they receive a Dividend from the Society

@Rs.300/sft/month. This comes to Rs.3L to Rs.7.5L for a Household per year.

It is also known that the source of this Dividend is the rent the Society earns from 6 floors of the Nariman Bhavan in Nariman Point that it owns. These 6 floors earn the society 50L rent every month.

HOW did it become the Richest?

The secret is the people who were the first buyers of this Apartment Complex.

Imagine.

You have decided on purchasing a flat. The builder says if you pay 40% more for your flat, we will give the Society ownership of 6 floors of a Commercial Building. The Society can earn rent from it.

As an Individual Buyer, will you be willing to go ahead with the 40% extra investment?

The buyers of Jolly Maker 1 did. They must have had substantial Trust and Confidence in their Housing Society as well as the Builder.

That all-round trust and later the efficiency of the Society has now made Jolly Maker-1 what it is today – a News Maker for Prosperity!

Congratulations to this Housing Society!

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Guest post by Mr. Sajin K. , Treasurer of a 165 Apartment Complex in Bangalore.

Wanted to let this group know of a recent happening in our community, which might be useful for you if you (or friends) have other properties in Karnataka.

Around 2 months back, we got a notice from Pollution Control Board (PCB) that an amount of Rs. 1,20,000 need to be paid for 6 years (Jan 2007 – Dec 2012). The builder and association decided to split this as 40+80, considering the respective ownership periods.

When we went to pay this amount, the PCB officials said an environment report need to be made and it costs Rs. 7,500 per year, totaling Rs. 45,000. This was to be paid to an agency that conducts surveys. We enquired with some nearby apartments of similar size and the estate managers there said this need to be paid. So we went back with DD worth 1.2 lacs and a cheque to the agency for Rs. 45,000. And then, they started demanding Rs. 5,000 per year bribe (i.e. Rs. 30,000) and refused to accept the DD if that was not paid.

At this stage, I started looking for someone credible to see what exactly is this process. Remembering a similar topic being discussed on WaterBLR ADDA, requested ApartmentADDA’s help in getting introduced to the right people and got in touch with Dr. Ananth who is an expert in this field. He said neither is the environment report needed and also that once the DD is paid (at a different office) we can just courier the forms to PCB so no question about bribe either.

So here we were, with Dr. Ananth assuring us that Rs. 75,000 is in effect a bribe and we do not need to pay any of it and on the other side every estate manager we knew advising there is no other way but pay up. In the meanwhile, our Association President and I started getting calls threatening us of “dire consequences” if we do not pay up immediately, including disconnecting our electricity etc. We were in a real dilemma as we knew quite a few at our Complex will be very upset with us, if any of the threatening actually materialized. As if that isn’t enough, some people from the builder’s side too started putting pressure to pay.

Finally with Dr. Ananth’s help we found an honest officer in PCB and closed the matter without paying a paise in bribe. But we were indeed surprised by the amount of ignorance about this and to see that almost every apartment pays up this “audit fee” and bribe.

So, please tell your friends this:

• Environment Audit Reports are not required for residential apartments, since an amendment made way back in 1992. People demanding this are just trying to extract money out of our ignorance.
• All we need to submit along with the annual fee is a form called Form V, which can be downloaded free from the PCB website (attached here as well). Most of the fields in this form doesn’t apply to us and filling this is hardly 10 minutes’ job.
• Finally, the PCB does have powers but the people threatening with “consequences” are just trying to cash in on the fear factor and usually cannot do anything without very valid reasons
• The said form and relevant amendment are attached herewith. This is all one needs while paying the fee.

Hope this will help save some hard-earned money for your friends’ communities also.

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Nominate your Association!

As the tagline of this Champions blog says “Every Neighbourhood has its champions”, the Namma Bengaluru Foundation is recognizing these champions with the Namma Bengaluru Awards.  The Award celebrates extra-ordinary contributions to the society by ordinary citizens of Bengaluru.

You can nominate your RWA / Owners Association, to recognize the selfless service they may be doing to the neighbourhood, or you could nominate a neighbour known to go out of his way in helping the community!

Here is the link to Nominate: http://namma-bengaluru.org/nbf/online_nomination_form.aspx

—————————————————————————————————–

Details from Ms. Usha Dhanaraj, Manager, Namma Bengaluru Foundation

Dear Sir/Madam

The Namma Bengaluru Awards 2011 has been launched and we invite you to nominate an Individual/Group/Organization/Social Entrepreneur/Elected Representatives/Government Departments of Bengaluru, working for the city and its causes. Launched in 2009, the Namma Bengaluru Awards (NBA) is an annual event that recognizes and rewards extra-ordinary contributions by ordinary citizens of Bengaluru.

Who can you nominate? The answer is Anybody (person/organization) who took the initiative to save the park in your areas, kept your roads clean and cleared the garbage – be it rain or shine, gave security to old people, took care of hurt animals, uplifted children in dire situations, worked on conservation related issues and helped better the City’s environment, or has supported people to realize their dreams. Students can nominate their teachers / professors, neighbourhoods: their Resident Welfare Associations, or BBMP or BWSSB officer, local residents their local police personnel, employees their colleagues etc. Please remember that you can nominate one individual/organization per form and you cannot self nominate.

It is important that you find time to nominate and thank all of them. The Namma Bengaluru Awards are a way for all of us to honour those selfless individuals who have gone way beyond their call of duty. Remember, your nomination, your single nomination can help your nominee win the award because the only criterion for the winner is the quality of work done and not the number of nominations received.

Please circulate this mail  among your friends and families and help Bengaluru find its true hero’s.

To nominate:

You can find the Online Nomination form (English & Kannada) at: http://namma-bengaluru.org/nbf/online_nomination_form.aspx

You can also download the form at

http://namma-bengaluru.org/nbf/nomination_pdf/NOMINATION_FORM_2011.pdf

and mail it to us at nba2011@namma-bengaluru.org.

For more information do log on to www.namma-bengaluru.org

You can also pick the nomination forms from Food world, CUPPA, Coffee Day , Bangalore One or Ammi’s Biryani outlets.

Please remember the last date for nominations is 30^th Nov 2011.

Thanks & Regards,

Usha Dhanaraj

Manager – Programmes & Resources

Namma-Bengaluru Foundation

#3J, NA Chambers,3rd Cross

7th C Main, 3rd Block

Koramangala,Bangalore – 560 034

09591985287

www.namma-bengaluru.org

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What is this Guide about

Introduction by Author:  Over five years ago, the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board mandated that Sewage Treatment Plants be built and operated in individual residential complexes having fifty or more dwellings, or generating 50 m3/day or more of sewage. Additional conditions imposed among others were that the treated water quality shall meet stringent “Urban Reuse Standards”, treated water shall be reused for
toilets flushing (thus requiring dual plumbing system in the residential complexes), for car washing, and for irrigation use within the campus.

A large residential complex, in its sewage generation potential, may then be viewed as a microcosm of the city itself; with a ready and perennial source of water right at its doorstep. All that the complex needs is to have a good, robust, well designed STP to produce water for all its secondary needs.

So, given this already grim and rapidly worsening [water supply] scenario, it is important for the people living in Bangalore and other mega cities in India to realize the importance of recycled water, and strive to set up efficient water treatment plants within their complexes, so that they can themselves control the quality of the water they use. At the same time, they will also be bringing down their own cost of living substantially, by obviating the laying of huge pipelines that bring water from far-off places.
This book will help them achieve this all important goal.

What does the Guide have

For each unit of the STP, the following aspects are addressed:

1. The basic intended function of each unit
2. How a typical unit looks like, and how it works
3. Design considerations
4. Engineering considerations
5. Operation and maintenance aspects
6. Troubleshooting chart

Who is it for

“For large and small builders alike, who generally depend on plumbing consultants for STP designs, this book serves as a reference. They can avoid a lot of costly rework and delayed projects by following the design and engineering recommendations made in this book.”

“The Managing Committees (and Estate Managers) of an apartment complex, this book provides both guidelines and checklists for taking over from the builders. It also provides detailed guidance for day-to-day operation and maintenance of STP. ”

We congratulate Dr.Ananth, also a user of ApartmentADDA, for this easy-to-read yet knowledge packed creation!

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Bangalore Graduates Constituency Poster

Your Graduate Degree got you knowledge, it got you the desired career, did you know it also got you something else that’s exclusive?

A RIGHT to vote in the Bangalore Graduates Constituency Elections!

And just like you, we believe that if we have a hard earned Right, it MUST be exercised!  So all Graduates in Bangalore (received degree 3 years or prior) have this right to vote-in an honest and deserving MLC – Member of the Legislative Council.  Do not miss this opportunity and get registered to vote in this Election.

Registration Process is very simple:

1. Print Form-18 and fill it. form18

2. Take a copy of your Degree Certificate and Address Proof of Bangalore.

3. Take all the above along with the original Degree Certificate, for verification, to the nearest BBMP Office!  Please note this has to be done by yourself.

Registration closes 5-Nov-2011!

Apartment Owners Associations can help:

As responsible Governing Bodies, you could spread the word within the complex. We have created READYMADE posters, which you could just print, fill in the location of the Nearest BBMP Office, and put it up on your Notice Board!  You could also print and put up the FAQs available below. To close the loop, you could print and distribute Form 18 to all Residents.

Poster: Download Bangalore Graduates Constituency

FAQ : FAQ-Bangalore Graduates Constituency

Three cheers to responsible Citizenship!

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Today, give a stranger one of your smiles.  It might be the only sunshine he sees all day. ~Quoted in P.S. I Love You

Year 2010

Residents of Mahaveer Regal and Habitat Splendour Apartment complex, held a Food Mela for regional Indian Cuisines in aid of their neighbourhood hospice KARUNASHRAYA that takes care of terminally ill cancer patients. Residents put up food stalls and proceeds were donated to Karunashraya. There were also counters to collect other items such as clothes, utensils etc.. This is also served as an awareness drive for Karunasharaya in the neighbourhood as they set up an information counter to create awareness about their mission and they also accepted donations.

Knightsbridge apartment residents got together to donate all their household (reusable)items. That includes newspapers, home linen, clothes, shoes, books, toys… All the stuff was donated to a nearby NGO.

Year 2011

Sterling Terraces apartment at Banashankari has planned a series of events for the entire week.

Wall painting: Residents are getting together to paint a wall within the premises for a cause.

Give Life: A blood donation camp is being organised on Oct 2, Gandhi Jayanthi day

Food for Thought: Oct 2 will also see the culinary skills of the Men and boys of the complex as they setup food counters for the residents. The event is to raise funds for a cause.

Share a smile: Residents have identified a school in Banashankari for the mentally challenged. Each student of the school will get a gift of their choice being sponsored by one of the residents. In addition they plan to also provide a snack to all of the school students and staff.

Thanks Giving:  For the 380 odd people who serve the residents during the year (maids, drivers, security staff, house-keeping staff, plumbers, electricians, janitors, car cleaners, garbage collectors, gardeners, STP attendants, flower, iron and milk vendors, there will be a sumptuous breakfast served and also tp pick up items from those that are collected from the residents including clothes, utensils, electrical items, shoes, bed-sheets, bags, jewellery, show pieces etc.

..and few others!

All these instances are Residential Communities who leverage their community strength to spread the “Joy of Giving”!

The “Joy of Giving” Festival

The Joy of Giving week is a “festival of giving” and a national movement that aims to engage Indians all across the country and abroad through different acts of giving – money, time, skills or resources and love. The goal is to convert it to a fully publicly owned festival, just like Diwali, Holi or Thanksgiving, none of which are owned by anyone. Started in the year 2009, this public festival of giving is celebrated every year in the week of Gandhi Jayanthi.

This is a 100% volunteer driven, publicly owned campaign. The Joy of Giving Week 2011, slated to happen from Oct 2-8 this year is India’s largest festival of giving reaching out to a million Indians.  Events are organized by individuals, social groups, RWAs, schools, colleges, NGOs, corporates, media houses and others. 1 million+ people participated in 500+ events across 40+ cities in Joy of Giving Week-2010, raising over Rs20 crores in money and resources donated, and millions of volunteer hours.To know more visit :-

www.youtube.com/joyofgivingweek

www.facebook.com/joyofgivingweek

http://picasaweb.google.com/joyofgivingweek

http://joyofgivingweek.blogspot.com

A giving event could be as simple as a family taking out the maid’s children for an ice-cream party, or organized at a community level as the examples above.

What you can do

Create a core team / anchor team in your community / apartment /.

Promotion
Promote the concept by notices, posters etc and decide on the events that can be held at your complex. In addition resources are available on the www.joyofgivingweek.org site which can be used to increase awareness amongst residents and plan for events.
•    Sachin poster on the Notice board
•    Notices explaining the concept on the notice board.
•    Core volunteer group to be formed and published and seeking additional volunteers
•    Use your ADDA Forum, NoticeBoard and SMS to promote the events
•    Conduct a door-door campaign to assess interest in participation

Activities
Apartments to devise their own program or can pick one or more from the following. Each of these below will need more details in terms of the implementation aspects, to-do’s etc .. Apartments can also reach out to the core volunteer group at Bangalore (Rajan 9845030095) to be presented a list of NGOs that they can pick to support or plan events based on any of the following.
•    Clothes collection (can partner with Goonj)
•    Blood donation / organ pledge
•    Invite families of Maids, servants, security staff, house-keeping staff – provide entertainment, food etc  (giving back to people who serve them)
•    Fund raising dinner for residents, families & friends – try and get food at subsidised rates or sponsored.
•    Treasure Hunt (participants will be in a car with 4 members/family). Entry fee + sponsors and proceeds go for charity.
•    Silent auction (may be dinner for 2 tickets that nearby restaurants can donate)
•    Silent auction (face to face with some celebrity .. at a hotel that is sponsored)
•    Adopt a nearby poor school
•    Have a food fair conducted by residents where proceeds go for charity.
•    Collect newspapers from all apartments for a whole month and donate that to charity or to some deserving person in the complex.
•    Spend time with senior citizens in the apartment, read for them, take them for walks or drives etc ..
•    Allow few NGOs to put up stalls to sell their products at the complex
•    Private dinner at apartment with a celebrity. Proceeds go for charity
•    E-waste collection drive.

For details, please email info@joyofgivingweek.org, or Rajan at 9845030095.

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This is a guest post by Mr. Sanjay Vijayaraghavan – who has been an Office Bearer in a 500 Unit Apartment Complex, which has successfully registered under the Karnataka Apartment Owners Act recently. Mr. Sanjay is one of the ADDA users who champion the cause for a more effective Legal Framework for Registration and Governance of Apartment Owners Associations.

The Karnataka Apartment Ownership Act – Improve the Law and Implement It

As residents of any apartment complex in Bangalore and the state of Karnataka will agree, community living has its challenges. The managing committees of various apartments valiantly fight everyday to solve problems, evolve consensus and improve the life of the residents. In most new apartments sold, it is common to see a debate on registering the association and the right law to register under.  Many lawyers nowadays advice registering under the societies act.  However, a quick perusal of the law will make clear that the Karnataka Apartment Ownership Act of 1972 is the correct law to register under.

There are two acts that govern apartment related legalities and affairs in the state of Karnataka.  One is the Karnataka Ownership Flats (Regulation of the Promotion of Construction, Sale, Management and Transfer) Act, 1972, also known as Act No. 16 of 1973. The other law is the Karnataka Apartment Ownership Act (KAOA), 1972, otherwise called Act no 17 of 1973.  Act 16 of 1973, as the full title suggests, governs the builder and promoter. With respect to apartment governance, the act actually requires the builder/promoter to clearly define the nature of the organization of flat owners that is envisaged for a particular project right at the beginning, in writing.  Act 16 also requires the builder to form such an association as soon as possible by registering such association with the competent authority. The act also includes a timeline for the transfer of title deeds and related documents of the undivided property to this association so formed.  The KAOA on the other hand deals with apartments as heritable property as well as the rules and regulations for running an apartment association.  While the KAOA is probably less detailed compared to what exists in states such as Maharashtra, it certainly sets up a reasonable framework to work with.
However, these laws are beset with problems of poor implementation and enforcement.  For example, there is no authority specified under KAOA to ‘register’ an association, though the ‘Registrar of Co-operative Societies’ has been named as the “Competent Authority”, but with powers and responsibilities not clearly defined.  Because of this and many other lacunae in the KAOA, many unscrupulous builders have been exploiting the situation by retaining ownership and control over common areas and assets, putting the owners to various kinds of hardships.

What is even more galling is that the government of Karnataka for a while was not sure which department was responsible for implementing these laws. Finally an RTI application followed up by a case before the Karnataka Information Commission Case No KIC 3658 PTN 2009 brought out that the Urban Development Department is the responsible department.

It is time for a serious look at these laws and to improve them based on best practices around the country.  It is also important for these same laws to be properly implemented.  With the rapid expansion of apartments in Bangalore and Karnataka, it is essential to fix these laws for the peace of mind of apartment buyers and peaceful and happy living in these communities.

An improved legal framework for Apartment Communities has become an immediate necessity. What is your Opinion?

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The first step to manage is to measure. When it comes to the water crisis, and controlling consumption in our Apartment Complexes, installing Water Meters can surely help. But then we are stumped by the Engineering & People Challenges of a Water Meter installation project. Here is a story of Kannan Venkitachalam and his neighbours in Mana Sarovar Apartments in Marathalli -  who took these challenges up and came up winners! Champions in their own right, Mana Sarovar Apartments inaugurates this ADDA Champions Blog!

My name is Kannan Venkitachalam. I live in a 32 flat apartment occupied it on May 2007. For the initial 2.5 years everything went smoothly. It was in September 2009, the apartment’s common electricity bill went up 100% more than the usual amount. After a little investigation it was found that the automatic water pumping system installed in the over head tank of the apartment was not functioning properly. While the sensor in the system ensured that water level in the tank were accurate, it did not sense/count the amount of water being pumped. Also long hours of pumping almost dried up the bore well and water problem started. We have only one bore well of 650ft depth. We started depending on tankers ever after with 2 tankers per day. In next month end we received a little rain. Our bore well began to give yield after then.

PROBLEM GETS BIGGER

Unfortunately in November 2009 the BBMP dug a bore of 1500ft deep opposite to our bore on the other side of road to supply to all near by independent houses. Thereafter we started losing the yield in our bore. We started to buy water in tankers again. Tankers supplied 4000 liters of water 2 times a day at the cost of Rs.230/- per load. Monthly maintenance increased by Rs.200/- for the tanker water. All residents worried about the water availability and started buying big plastic drums and started storing. Again the consumption increased to 3 tankers per day and monthly maintenance increased by another Rs.200/-. So total Rs.400 more than our initial monthly maintenance which is common for all 32 flats. This went from Feb 2010 to Apr 2010. Whenever water level goes down from regular level due to delay in Tanker delivery than the scheduled time, the top most floor residents started complaining about less pressure and volume of water from their taps. Then certain residents who were working couples started complaining about empty tap when they return from work in the night. We called for an urgent association meeting and concluded to have controlled and limited supply of water as per prescribed time frames. Like, in the mornings 6.30am to 8.00am, noon 12:00 to 1:00pm and night 7:30pm to 9:00pm so that all the residents will get an opportunity to be available at home. It was like only 4 hrs a day water supply. The residents continued storing the water in all possible ways and in all possible containers more than the requirement due to the worry of in case water tanker delivery failure. The next time when the water is supplied, they tend to dispose the already stored/unused water and refill again. This lead to increased consumption of water 4 tankers per day and residents were asked to pay more. From May 2010 another increase of Rs.300/- came into effect. So it becomes a total of Rs.700/- from our regular monthly maintenance only for water.

THE SOLUTION IS EVIDENT – BUT PROOF OF CONCEPT?

Then started the resistance from small families; saying that their consumption was less; some said they working on shifts and not able to collect water at the particular time and they will not pay more. Another problem was leaving the taps open. Since the water is not available during other times of the day, people forget and tend to leave the taps open. And when the water is supplied the next time and if they are not available at home, the water goes down the drain from the open tap. These two issues caused excess usage/wastage. Residents of top floors complained of inadequate supply of water due to low pressure. This resulted in misunderstanding among the residents. Different opinions started like the maintenance as per numbers of occupants per flat, maintenance as per flat total square feet area etc. I proposed going for water meter and pay the monthly maintenance as per water usage. But I was not having enough data to support and educate all residents because without proper justification no body will be interested to invest anything. My wife Anitha felt very painful to clean kitchen utensils from bucket stored water; since the timing of water supply was not suitable for her. She was behind me continuously to find a permanent solution for the water supply. She even proposed to shift to any other rented home where sufficient water is available leaving our own house from this apartment. In my mind I was telling how long can we run away from problems, what is the guarantee that the new home where we go will have enough water? Once I thought of buying a small PVC tank and keep it in balcony with floating ball valve and will take new connection from that to kitchen sink which will store the water whenever the supply is there and we are not at home (like flush tank in toilet). But still we could not justify our self with that idea. In future if no water scarcity, then that extra tank will become a waste of investment.

HUNT FOR INFORMATION

Finally through internet I could find some blogs where people written about the success stories of metered water system in apartment from Chennai, Mumbai and some other cities in 2002 – 2006 time period with very good feedback/response from those who residing there. This information was my turning point. Water Scarcity and Water Meters By GVB May 24th, 2006 @ 12:34 AM Chennai, Daily Living, South Chennai http://chennai.metblogs.com/2006/05/24/water-scarcity-and-water-meters/ Individual meters in apartments – Addressing equity and economic issues of water Submitted by arun on March 22, 2010 – 10:42 http://www.indiawaterportal.org/topic/10071 Water Meter Installation in flats / Calculating Charges – Consultant Required: Bangalore Submitted by rejeeb on March 22, 2010 – 15:44 http://www.indiawaterportal.org/ask/10077 When water meters lose pace… The Hindu Online edition of India’s National Newspaper Saturday, Jul 08, 2006 http://hindu.com/pp/2006/07/08/stories/2006070800500100.htm Immediately after collecting the above details on water metering from different websites I started studying the plumbing layout in our apartment. It took 2 weeks to conclude myself for the confidence of going for it. Since each flat in our apartment is having 3-4 inlets from the overhead tank. So for the location of water meters placement on the terrace is very important to have minimum alteration of exiting plumbing line which will have less cost for new piping materials. Then I called a plumber who did the initial laying of plumbing in our apartment. I explained my plan for the meter installation and asked for his quote in an agreement of I will procure the material and he will take only the labor charge for installation. With that agreement he gave me the total estimate including material roughly Rs. 2.91 lakhs. Just to validate this plumber’s quote I have invited another professional plumbing agency and told my plan and asked for his estimate & quote. He did the rough measurement and gave me the quote of Rs. 4.96 Lakhs. This quote was drafted as per square feet rate including labor and material which he will buy and install. Quality & Make of the materials he did not disclose. Below you can see copy of both quotes. Roughly Rs.9000/- per flat from 32 flats for the first plumbers Rs. 2.91 lakhs quote I have concluded. With these 2 quotes and all the internet blogs on metered water success stories I called the association meeting and proposed the same to go for the project. It was also decided that the residents should pay the amount in 2 installments, Like Rs.5000/- in October month and Rs.4000/- in the November month and majority accepted it in the meeting. Later on after the meeting; few of the residents disagreed stating that we do not even have continuous water for few hours, then how can we get 24 hours of water with just installing water meter. After some time again a chain of e-mails were circulated for nearly 10 days, but no action was taken to collect the stipulated amount of Rs.9000/- per house for the project.

AND… BINGO!

Finally I have made a survey questionnaire in an A4 sheet and went to each door step personally and asked the residents to fill & sign the survey form in front of me. The survey questions where like below: 1. Do you want to install water meter and pay monthly maintenance charges as per water usage? Yes / No 2. If your answer to question 1 is "No", then do you know how to save water? Yes / No 3. Do you know anybody else is going to do something to save water? If "Yes" please specify the name. 4. If your answer to question 1 is "Yes", can you please pay the amount which I specified for the water meter installation project contribution? Yes / No With the above survey questionnaire I got immediate majority of 30 flat residents. Other 2 flat residents ultimately joined with majority and paid the contribution. I have collected the Rs.9000/- in 2 installments. Like Rs.5000/- first month and Rs.4000/- in second month. I am very much thankful to all my apartment co-residents for their acceptance to install water meter. One of our association T party get-together group photo you can see below Enquired the plumbing material cost in City market as well nearby a small plumbing hardware shop. Found little difference, I mean the cost of pipe was little less in City Market. But considering the transportation cost, I found buying nearby shop is better. Also I could get this nearby shop with a credit option also. Because I could not get all the fund money collected it once. All residents were given their contributions in several time frames in 2 months. Every day after I return from office; used to go to the nearby shop with plumber and buy the plumbing materials for the next day’s work. Like that we continued for the complete one month. I should really appreciate the shop owner for accepting my credit option for large amount. Only the Water Meters & Strainers I bought from City market. All other plumbing materials I bought from nearby shop. The shop had another favor for me; all the extra materials remained unused and without damage after the project had taken back and refunded the money. Here is the detail of the Implementation, including pictures of the Water Metering and the first few readings: http://apartmentadda.com/blog/installation-of-water-meters-in-a-complex/

AFTER THE IMPLEMENTATION

The water bill was ranged from Rs.60/- to Rs.1000/- as per the consumption with different flats. Several water saving tips & techniques were discussed and shared to reduce the water bill amount. It was found that once a commodity is billed people try to keep its usage to a minimum. Under this system residents are paying Rs.0.06 per litre. Per litre charge varies according to the total volume of water consumed per month for the whole apartment. Per litre charge can be calculated from dividing total water tanker cost for the month by the sum of all the water meter readings. We used to depend on 4 tankers of 4000 litre per day with only 4 hrs per day supply. After installation of meter, it drastically reduced to 2 tankers per day with 24 hrs round the clock water supply. Water consumption has come down by almost 50%. It was also found that about 30% to 40% of the residents were consuming more water for which others were paying for their misuse or over usage.

Response / Feed Back from my co-residetns for the Water Meter Installation

• “Thanks Kannan for providing 24hrs water ” – Sapthagiri • “It is good to see the response from everyone, congratulating Mr Kannan for the task he has done. He really deserves it and no doubt about it.” – Bhapindar • “Just moved to the apartment 3 weeks back and I can’t thank you enough for working this hard to rectify the water crisis , this was a perfect timing , wish you a very Happy new Year” – Samarth • “You and the team have been delivering time and again so many important and wonderful initiatives to make life easier in Mana. I wish you all a thunderous applause and a wonderful year ahead!” – Vaishak • “I like to take my chance to appreciate and sincere thanks to Kannan for his time and effort to complete the task” – Vijay • “Since the time we purchased this flat, it was our dream to see 24 hours water in our tap. Your efforts made this dream to come true. I am personally very thankful and grateful to you to make my dream to come true. This is a New Year gift to the residence of Mana Sarovar by you. Thanks a lot for manage your personal time to complete this project on time. We all are thankful to you” – Rakesh • “This is really great effort. In spite of busy schedule, you have spent & sacrificed personal time to make this happen. Appreciate your commitment. I take this opportunity to thank and congratulate you on this accomplishment” – Satish • “Appreciate your great efforts in installing water meter in Mana Sarovar Apartments” – Ashok • “It was a great effort to install water meter for all apartments. Thanks for personal time and efforts to achieve this target. Everybody should be happy to pay maintenance charges only for their usage _” – Saju • “Thank you Kannan!!! Salute your efforts and sacrifice of your personal time to make life better for residents of Mana Sarovar!!! THANK YOU !!!!!” – Anoop • “Thanks a ton Kannan for leading the greatest initiative since Mana Sarovar was handed over to the Association. I would like to echo Joshi’s words… This is simply awesome ” – Anoop • “Finally THANKS for the big initiative (I think it’s the biggest after we have taken the flat). Everyone was able to see the enthu in getting this work done” – Yogesh

Water saving techniques implemented in my flat F7 to save water

I have implemented simple water saving techniques in my flat no. F7, which has reduced my water consumption when compared to other flats in my apartment complex.

RO Water for washing machine

I am using Aqua Guard Reverse Osmosis System for the last 3 years. I have placed the system such way that my washing machine is next to the adjacent wall. I drilled a hole and put the drain pipe from RO to the washing machine (it is not fully automatic, only semi & twin tub type machine). Once the machine wash tub fills I will take clothes for wash. If extra RO runs I will store it in a bucket near the washing Machine. You know this rejected water from RO is much cleaner than direct tap water, only thing it is a little hard. So I am not wasting any water from my RO.

Kitchen Sink

I have replaced the kitchen sink tap to a shower, which will consume less for cleaning utensils. Since we need more area coverage or spread for utensils cleaning, not volume, so a shower dispensing less water works very well. This can save a lot of water, this cost me roughly Rs.500/- only. No plumber required for this, you can fit yourself if you have a pipe wrench & Teflon tape. I did it myself. It is not a standard readymade one available in market; need to buy separately all plumbing fittings and the shower.

Toilet Flush Tank

There is some adjustment in the toilet flush tank also which controls the volume of water filling. Beneath the floating ball put a thick thermocol block of size which you need the less volume of water in the tank. Put the thermocol block such a way that 50% water only filled in the tank that is more than sufficient to flush even solid waste also.

Washbasin

Under the washbasin, there is a control valve; I have kept that valve half closed so the water flow from the tap reduces. That is more than sufficient to clean your hand and face.

Cleaning water

The water used for cleaning vegetables, I store it and use it for watering the plants.I keep the biggest bowl or utensils at the base or bottom of kitchen sink and start collecting the other small utensils washed water in that. This can be used for initial cleaning of other unclean utensils. If you look at any tea shop, they will have a bowl of water and dip the used tea cup first into it and then wash it on fresh water

Head Bath

For bath I use a 16 litre bucket. That is more than sufficient for an adult to bathe. Today in our apartment we have 24 hours of water supply. For those who are living in apartment complexes, if you have not installed a water meter, please install water meters. Water wastage can be reduced by individual accountability for their water usage. It is as simple as any telephone or electricity usage. "Without measure, there is no control". Let everyone "Use & Pay" for the water. That is the only way to save water. ============================================================================ Do you have a story to tell? DO you know anyone who deserves to be showcased on our ADDA Champions Blog? Please write to support@apartmentadda.com, with the Subject as "Champions".

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