Gurugram’s CAC to discuss structural safety of high-rise buildings

The Central Advisory Council (CAC) in Gurugram, under the Real Estate Regulatory Act (RERA) Act 2016 will be meeting on 12 April to discuss the steps to ensure structural safety in high-rise buildings and prevent loss of life and property, apart from considering a proposal to set up a high-level panel to address the issue of stalled projects. The council, chaired by the Minister of Housing and Urban Affairs Hardeep Singh Puri, will consider measures like physical inspection of projects during construction and structural audit. President of Forum for People’s Collective Efforts (FPCE), Abhay Upadhyay, told the media that the agenda for the upcoming CAC meeting shows that the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) will address all the concerns in implementing RERA and also provide resolution for stalled projects. The panel includes 30 members, including the CEO of Niti Aayog and secretaries of many ministries, the president of FPCE, presidents of the Confederation of Real Estate Developers Associations of India (CREDAI), and the National Real Estate Development Council (Naredco), are also members of the council. According to the agenda, CAC will deliberate upon the constitution of the committee for the resolution of legacy stalled projects. There have been reports of incidents due to structural safety in multi-storey apartments. Though RERA mandates the promoters will rectify the structural defects highlighted within five years from the date of possession, some provisions related to structural safety may also be deliberated to ensure the safety of high-rise buildings and prevent loss of life and property. These provisions may include a physical inspection of projects during ongoing construction, a regular structural audit by reputed institutes, a declaration of structural safety by the promoter before applying for completion or occupancy certificate etc. For stalled projects, the CAC highlighted that the Centre had established the Alternate Investment Fund (AIF), Special Window for Affordable and Mid-Income Housing Fund (SWAMIH) investment fund of Rs 25,000 crore, for providing last-mile funding for projects. The fund will be provided to the projects with positive net worth and registered under RERA, including those projects that have been declared as Non-Performing Assets (NPAs) or are pending proceedings before the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC). In February, 249 deals of around Rs 23,778 crore have been approved, which will benefit over 1,46,946 homebuyers and unlock projects worth Rs 66,163 crore. The agenda highlighted that some states had tweaked the provisions of RERA while framing rules under the Act by exempting the registration of ongoing construction projects. It was decided in the meeting that the ministry has taken up the matter through various communications. Former BJP Chief, Satish Upadhyay, said that the ministry has been raising the issue of dilution in RERA rules by the states, due to which many incomplete projects were left out of the ambit of RERA, and the RERA authorities are unable to enforce their orders due to which RERA orders became nothing more than a piece of paper. He said that the incident of poor construction quality, leading to loss of lives, will also be part of the discussion. The ministry has taken up major issues for discussion in the interest of homebuyers. Image Source Also read: UP RERA revives 4-year stalled projects in Noida