Builders safeguard themselves

According to sources, all sale deeds signed post-2005 have a clause which, in affect, absolves the builder from any liability should the property be part of forest land. The onus is clearly on the buyers.

“We have given an undertaking which states that the builder will not be responsible if the building is part of private forest land anytime in the future,” said Kamini Chandran (name changed), a flat owner in Kandivili.

Like all Mumbaikars, the top priority was to just get a roof over her head especially when it made little sense to be a tenant and move from one flat to another every 11 months.

Not everyone concurs with this view. “It is shocking to know that builders were actually aware of the status of the land while negotiating the deal,” said Prakash Padikkal, president of Hillside Residents Welfare Association.

Some brokers, however, maintain that too much is being made of a “non-issue”.