JFA bates for a specific law to deal with apartment

Guwahati: Journalists’ Forum Assam (JFA), while observing an increasing number of flat (apartment) owners/ residents in the city, urges the government to formulate a specific law to safeguard the interest of both the apartment dwellers and local residents. The forum insisting on specific guidelines (may be like those in Maharashtra State Apartment Association Act 1970) emphasizes on a healthy media debate over the matter.
It may be noted that the pre-historic city of Guwahati has witnessed a haphazard growth of multi-storey residential buildings in the recent past and the
trend continues in ascending direction involving more families every passing day. The forum argues that the concerned authority should take timely initiatives to encourage the growth on the right direction. “We need to create adequate public awareness about the rights and obligations of the family members residing in a housing premise. The rights of those residents while purchasing the flats from the builder/developers and also in their society itself should be clarified,” said a statement issued by JFA president Rupam Barua and secretary Nava Thakuria.
The forum also added that the specific law should also deal with the rights of the tenants in a housing complex. Moreover, the responsibility/obligations of those apartment residents towards their neighbourhood in a particular locality should also be included in the guidelines.
“In many cases it is observed that the builder/developers use deep boring (welling) to extract water for the apartment residents causing alarming depletion of ground water level in that locality. It directly affects the neighboring families, who cannot afford the highly expensive drilling, particularly in the winter season,” asserted the JFA statement.
The government may also encourage the apartment societies to harvest sufficient rainwater for their daily uses like kitchen-gardening, vehicle-washing, cleaning etc so that the pressure on ground water can be minimized to many extent. It will help regenerating the storage of ground water for the benefit of environment, added the statement.