file photo Bhubaneswar: home buyers Dhauli HeightsA project executed by Odisha Cooperative Housing Cooperation ,OCHC) Ltd. may have to wait longer as Cooperation Minister Pradeep Bal Samant has indicated that there is a possibility of further delay in the allotment.
Responding to questions raised by various MLAs in the Assembly on the status of allotment of houses in Dhauli Heights, the Minister recently said that Odisha Police Housing and Welfare Corporation (OPHWC) completed the construction and handed over the project to OCHC. However, the allotment will start only after Bhubaneswar Development Authority ,BDA) approves its revised building plan and occupancy certificate for the project.
Samant further said that after the approval of BDA, Odisha Real Estate Regulatory Authority ,Orera) will register the project, and only then the allotment of houses can begin. “OCHC started the project in the Tamando area in 2014 in public-private-partnership mode and agreed to hand over the houses to the buyers by 2016. The delay happened because the private partner showed inability to complete the project,” the minister said.
He said an agreement was signed with OPHWC in 2021 to complete the project. “OPHWC completed the construction in June and handed over the project to OCHC,” Samanta said.
However, the minister did not give any timeline for the allotment of houses. “In the August session, the minister told the assembly that allotments had started, but it was a white lie,” said Shravani Sarangi, vice-president of the Dhauli Heights Association of Allottees.
Ganeshwar Swain, another allottee, said the replies given by the minister were disappointing. “We are all completely disappointed. No time-frame has been specified. The reasons raised have not been answered but cleverly avoided,” he said.
Association President Pramod Kumar Mohanty said that the inaction of OCHC, a state-owned institution, is not being taken seriously. “The government is trying to protect errant OCHCs, which are defrauding home buyers in broad daylight,” he said.
