Maintenance charge other sticky issue Members of sector 7 (right) face water crisis during summers as Narmada water pipeline has not been made available to them. They also claim that their demand for second borewell to tide over water shortage is not being paid heed to despite repeated please; Pic: Nilkanth Dave Members of sector 7 of Satyagrah Chhavani society, comprising 98 bungalows, have filed a plea with Registrar of Cooperative Societies to separate them from the rest of the society and grant them an independent identity. More than 64 members have joined the petition claiming deficiency of service in key facilities, compared to other sectors.Sector-7 members say they contribute 22% of the annual maintenance collected from total 492 members but services like water supply, maintenance of gardens and roads in their sector are not at par with other sectors. Even the Activity Centre has been built in the other part of the society, they say.Satyagrah Chhavani, which is one of the oldest societies of west Ahmedabad housing prominent businessmen and professionals, is divided into two parts by a wide road that connects Jodhpur Circle with Iskcon Circle on the SG Highway. On one side is a cluster of six sectors while sector 7 lies on other side of the road.Madhukar Parikh, a resident of sector 7, said: “As our sector stands separated from rest of the six sectors, we are not considered a part of the society.They don’t provide us good roads, water, borewell or properly maintain gardens in our sector. We have right to same facilities as sector 7 contributes 22% of annual maintenance funds received by the society.”Another member of sector 7, Dr Bharat Parikh, said, “They make good roads, gardens, water distribution system in rest of the 6 sectors but don’t pay heed to our demand for the same. Even the multi-crore Activity Centre has been developed in the other part. So, what’s our fault? We have been giving same maintenance amount since 1963 when the society was created.”Dr Parikh further said, “During summers we face water crisis as our sector has not been provided with the Narmada water pipeline. Our demand for another borewell has also not been fulfilled. The discrimination has been going on for a long time. Fed up by this stance, we have moved the application for division of the society with signature of 64 members of sector 7.”B J Trivedi, a resident of sector 7, commented: “More than 75 members of sector 7 are ready, as of today, to become independent. Every member, in every sector, should get equal facilities.”Chairman of the society Kirti Shah was not available for comments despite repeated attempts. Secretary Bakul Shah also didn’t respond to calls made by Mirror.Registrar of Cooperative Societies Chetan Parmar said he has initiated the process to seek opinion of the managing committee of the society on the issue of separating sector 7 from the rest. “Sector-7 members met me and demanded separation from the society. It is possible only after a resolution is passed in the general body meeting. I have initiated the process by sending an intimation to the managing committee to submit a report on the issue after doing due diligence.”Satygrah Chhavani is also grappling with allegations of mismanagement against its managing committee. Some members have also objected to the committee’s insistence on recovering maintenance charge based on the plot size of bungalows.Mihir Lakhia, advocate for Madhukar Parikh and others who have filed a plea in this connection with the Registrar, told Mirror: “The Registrar ordered to dissolve the managing committee and appoint an administrator after going through the report submitted by the auditor appointed following our plea. The auditor’s report discovered loss of Rs 3.46 crore and non-adherence to best practices in building the Activity Centre. Earlier, the High Court had asked the society to recover fixed monthly maintenance,rather than based on plot size, but the Registrar found that it was not complied with.”Following this development, the managing committee filed an appeal with the appellate authority and got stay on the Registrar’s order.Society’s advocate at the Appellate Authority I K Jadeja said, “We have secured a stay on the Registrar’s order on the issue of appointment of an administrator. I can’t share more details as I am unable to talk at length right now.”

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