A storm is brewing once again over New Town’s Greenwood Nest. The complex was in the news last year when more than 150 residents fell ill and some 50 of them got hospitalised with water-borne diseases. Residents fought tooth-and-nail and finally got their management to build a water treatment plant (WTP) but this unit has now usurped the parking lot that they had paid lakhs for, forcing residents to park their vehicles here and there at the risk of accidents.
Greenwood Nest, near Rohra Heights in Action Area 1, is a joint venture between the Shrachi Group and West Bengal Housing Board. Residents started moving into the complex from 2022 and immediately started facing chronic stomach problems that they gradually realised were due to water contamination. The problem exploded in August 2024 with at least 150 cases of hepatitis, typhoid, and E.coli reported. In October, the government sent a team to test their water and it was found that the water at the complex was “not at all satisfactory showing the presence of coliform both at the source (borewell) and underground reservoir.” Total coliform and fecal coliform was “too numerous to count”.
The management finally built a WTP by end-November. “Back then, we so desperately needed safe water that we overlooked the fact that the WTP was coming up under the parking lot of the Alpine 3 tower. Cars cannot be parked on top of it now but the management had assured us they would build alternate parking space for our cars,” says a resident of this tower, asking not to be quoted. Around 14 parking spots have got displaced by the WTP.
“We paid between Rs 4 and 5 lakh for each parking spot at the time of registration and now are forced to squeeze our cars inside narrow passages. Whenever a second car appears from the other side it’s the start of an altercation,” says the resident.
To pay or not to pay
Residents say their demand for new parking space has fallen on deaf ears, and that they have stopped paying the common area maintenance (CAM) fees (between Rs 4,000 and Rs 5,500 per month) in protest. “When we moved into this complex we had to pay an advance CAM of six months so even if we haven’t paid for four months, they have two months’ advance with them. But still, they are holding us defaulters,” said another resident, again, asking not to be quoted.
Last Thursday Alpine 3 residents were stranded on their ground floor, unable to go up as the lift was without power. “When we called the facility manager he said ‘CAM na dile lift chalu hobe na’,” said the man. “A neighbour had to climb up 11 stories carrying his child in his arms. It was inhumane!”
Alpine 3 has 48 flats, of which about 60 percent are occupied. Residents also say their door-to-door garbage collection has stopped for about a week, as has sweeping inside the building. “These are all pressure tactics to get us to pay, whereas we have clearly told them we will pay the very day that we get authorised parking space.”
Making amends
A Shrachi officer said he knew of the demands. “We have purchased a plot next to Greenwood Nest for the parking lot and have even started work on it. It should be ready by May-end,” he said, asking not to be quoted. “Besides space for those who lost out due to the WTP construction, the new plot will have some extra space too as some residents have more than one car that they want to accommodate. We ourselves have friends and staff living in this complex and only want the best for them. We want a healthy relationship with customers.”
The officer claimed residents were aware of the new parking lot but when asked by The Telegraph Salt Lake, residents said there had been no communication about it, written or verbal.
Another officer denied they were trying to punish residents for not paying CAM by withholding services. “The lift wasn’t halted by us. The electricity board had temporarily cut power as there was a technical problem in paying their bill,” said the officer, requesting anonymity.
“We aren’t being vindictive but residents must realise that their total unpaid CAM amounts to a massive Rs 33 lakh. Some vendors have not been paid since October as residents are not paying up. Staff members are resigning unless salaries are paid in full and overall service is hampered. That electricity bill was being paid at the last minute as it was difficult for us to arrange funds without full CAM payment. There was a technical error in the payment and they cut the power to the common area in the building, which included the elevator,” explained the officer. “Still, we made amends and restored power in two hours.”
As for the six months’ advance that the management took at the time of registration, he said that amount was all but untouchable. “This complex still does not have a Residents’ Welfare Association (RWA). When it does, we will have to hand over day-to-day maintenance to them as well as the advance CAM that we had taken. That will be their starting capital for any development work so we cannot exhaust that money by paying monthly bills,” he explained.
However, he said the management called a meeting with residents last Friday, where they explained their stance. “Some residents saw our point and have agreed to pay CAM,” he said.