Just last week, Shubhita Pandita and her husband, residents of Regalia Heights in Indirapuram, got into a fight with a group of boys who had illegally parked their bikes in the couple’s allotted spot. After a lot of arguments, the boys vacated the spot but not before threatening the couple of consequences. Indirapuram News
“Gate number 4 ke baahar mil, wahan bataenge tujhe (meet us outside Gate no 4 and we will tell you what this means),” threatened one of the boys.
The matter escalated and Shubhita filed a formal complaint at the police station. “This is not an isolated case. Such cases occur almost every other day in our society,” she said.
Instances like these have become an everyday affair at Regalia Heights because of the dispute between the residents and market association members over who will control the society’s perimeter, and, more importantly, the entry and exit gates of the premises.
The society has over 150 shops on the upper ground floor and basement and the residents say they can’t control who enters their society jeopardizing their safety. “The market association is not allowing us control on who enters and exits our premises,"said Kaushik Ghosh, a resident of the society.
“We are a unique case. Tell me a single society that runs a market inside its premises, but is not allowed to control the entry of outsiders,” added Ghosh.
Due to the presence of the market, the gates are open all the time. The residents can’t control the people coming to the market.
Although the security comes under the Regalia AOA, residents allege that each time they attempt to control the entry gates, the members of market association start fighting.
“They are a violent lot. We have complained to the police several times, but these people don’t even listen to the police," said GM Nigam, a resident of Regalia.
Meanwhile, the members of the market association say that if they allow the residents to control the entry gates, their business will suffer. “They will discourage customers to enter the premises,” said Rawat, President, Regalia Heights Market Association.
Another problem is that the market association doesn’t allow the residents to control their parking area. “They (market association) say that if we force the customers to park outside, they will stop coming and it will affect their business”, said Ghosh.
“Many anti-social elements have made the society their adda. They park their cars in our spots and openly drink, smoke and harass passersby. They pass lewd remarks on female residents, bully our seniors and kids. It has become impossible to even take an evening stroll,” said Naveen Bhartiya, President of Regalia Heights’ AOA.
Rawat, meanwhile, agrees to the fact that if they restrict customers from parking inside, the business will be adversely impacted. However, he said that the parking space in question does not even belong to the residents as it was originally a green area which was illegally converted by them. “The area is not an authorized lot. If they can use it, why can’t we?” he added.
Reacting to this Bhartiya says that the builder had allowed them to use the area as a parking lot. “We have 266 flats and only 56 parking spots. So the builder allowed us to use upper compound as parking,” he said.
Regalia Heights is a joint project of Shipra World Builders and Ghaziabad Development Authority (GDA).
The residents say they have complained several times to the builders about the issue but nothing has been done so far.
The residents are currently embroiled in a legal tussle with the builder and GDA over the construction of 150 shops on the upper ground floor and basement of the building.
