A group of residents of Mundeshwary Enclave at Khajpura sit on a hunger strike on Thursday. Picture by Neshat Ahmad

Patna, Nov. 10: Residents of a housing society today toed the Anna Hazare line to tame its builder allegedly indulging in illegal construction on the campus.

Around 70 residents of Mundeshwary Enclave at Khajpura started their hunger strike around 11am. Their demand: the builder — Mundeshwary Builders and Developers (Private) Limited — should stick to the sanctioned plan and stop construction on the area earmarked as open space.

Upendra Kumar, the director of Mundeshwary Builders and Developers (Private) Limited, claimed that the residents’ demonstration was an attempt to harass him. Kumar said the occupants of the flats at Mundeshwary Enclave went on hunger strike because most of them did not want to clear their dues.

The residents differed, though. They alleged that Mundeshwary Builders and Developers (Private) Limited was grossly violating the building byelaws.

According to them, the builder increased the number of floors in six blocks of the residential society from the originally sanctioned five to six. They also complained about alleged commercial utilisation of the seventh block (under construction).

Besides, the residents accused the builder of illegal construction of the eighth block on the land earmarked as open space in the map of the society sanctioned by erstwhile Patna Regional Development Authority (PRDA).

Rajeev Ranjan Jha, a resident of A-block of Mundeshwary Enclave, said: “We are staying in Mundeshwary Enclave from 2006. Most of us got our flats registered by 2009. The PRDA (case number- PRN- 5-531/2000, dated December 21, 2002 and revised sanction plan, May 18, 2005) sanctioned seven six-storeyed (G+5) blocks on 1,00,741sqft in the approved map of Mundeshwary Enclave. But in gross violation of the approved plan, the builder is constructing an additional floor in the six blocks in the society, making them seven-storeyed (G+6) apartments.”

Jha added: “The builder is illegally constructing the eighth block in the society on the land earmarked for fountain and children’s park. In doing so, he has robbed us of the mandatory open space (15 per cent of the total area). A G+3 commercial complex is being built at the entrance of the society. It is completely illegal because it is being constructed on a residential plot.”

Besides the builder, the residents of the apartment are cut-up with the authorities, including the civic body and the district administration.

“We approached the authorities several times in the past, requesting them to stop rampant illegal activities in our society. But no action was taken. A criminal case is pending in the vigilance department (P/Bakarganj/PC Cum RN-7-531/2000). The matter is also sub judice in Patna High Court (CWJC 13968/11). Being the registered owners of the flats, any modification in the approved plan without our consent is violation of our rights. But nobody appears to be serious about the issue,” said B.B. Bhatt, the secretary of Mundeshwary Enclave Residential Society.

The builder, on the other hand, claimed that he was doing nothing illegal.

“Many of these residents are government officials. They had taken flats without making full payment. In fact, few of these residents had forced us to give them flats without any payment because they held influential position. When we asked them to make the payment, they started harassing us making false allegations and sitting on the hunger strike. We have left over 40 per cent land as open space. Also, the roads inside the society are wide enough for smooth movement of fire tenders,” said the director of Mundeshwary Builders and Developers (Private) Limited.