• Zire Rushi Construction Perfects the Scam
• Real Estate Racket: How Zire Rushi Construction Exploits Loopholes with BMC’s Support
• The Kollage Conspiracy: Homebuyers Trapped as Builders, BMC and MAHARERA Bend Rules
• Mumbai’s Real Estate Time Bomb: How BMC and MAHARERA Empower Builder Fraud
• The Kollage Scam: A Case Study in Corruption and Betrayal of Homebuyers
Unmesh Gujarathi
Sprouts News Exclusive
Today, Zire Rushi Construction—led by Anil Chandulal Shah, Seema Anil Shah, Jal Pvt. Ltd., and Jayesh Pannalal Choksi—has taken deception to an entirely new level. Their project, The Kollage in Andheri (East), reveals a deep-rooted nexus between developers and regulatory bodies like BMC’s Building Proposal Department (BP) and MAHARERA. These institutions meant to ensure transparency and accountability, instead enable rampant violations.
The Kollage: A Never-Ending Web of Deceit
Approved by BMC in 2013, The Kollage remains incomplete. Despite issuing Part OCs in March 2021 and October 2022, full OC remains elusive. BMC’s BP Department rubber-stamps arbitrary amendments without consulting residents, while MAHARERA grants endless extensions, further emboldening the builder. Homebuyers lured into investing their life savings, now find themselves trapped in a maze of broken promises and legal entanglements.
• Selective Amalgamation: A Tool for Harassment
Zire Rushi Construction’s push to amalgamate over 10 flats conveniently excludes one unit—owned by a resident who filed Writ Petition WP/12557/2023 in the Bombay High Court along with others against the illegal demolition of refuge areas. This exclusion is a clear act of vendetta, raising serious concerns. Why were small flats built only to be amalgamated later? Was this a premeditated ploy to bypass regulations and maximize profits in collusion with BMC authorities?
Fraudulent Inspections, Ignored Violations & Compromised Safety
A massive lot vigilant resident flagged an asbestos sheet wall—an outright violation—leading to BMC’s B&F Department inspections in September 2023, July 2024, and August 2024. The findings? No unauthorized changes by the resident, but a damning revelation—the builder replaced brick walls with hazardous asbestos. Despite escalation from BMC (B&F) to BMC-(BP), no action was taken.
Adding to the farce, BMC issued two letters, months apart, with the same reference number (ACKE/013667/Gen/B&F-84), both signed by AC.KE Shri Manish Valanju. Even more outrageous, the same KE Ward office that filed FIR No. 0279 against the builder on May 24, 2023, shockingly issued a NOC to the builder within 15 days of the builder’s application in July 2023—while the investigation was still ongoing.
Incidentally, Valanju’s name also appeared in the exposé of Mandar Tari, arrested for demanding bribes. Read the full report.
• A Warning for Every Mumbaikar
The Kollage isn’t an isolated case—it’s a blueprint for exploitation. If BMC can alter sanctioned plans after possession, no property in Mumbai is safe. Every homeowner must verify their flat’s blueprint on BMC’s AutoDCR portal to uncover hidden modifications both during the project and after OCs too.
• A National-Level Scam in the Making?
What makes this fraud even more alarming is the deeper nexus involving promoters, chartered accountants, employees, and family members of a listed pharmaceutical company, raising serious concerns about financial misconduct, tax evasion, and money laundering. This could be India’s new real estate scandal, leaving thousands of homebuyers financially ruined while powerful entities manipulate the system for personal gains.
If “ The Kollage” and other projects were investigated by DRI, CBI, or ACB, it could expose a multi-thousand crore scam spanning in and beyond Mumbai. The collusion between builders, Municipal Corporations, and regulators is no longer speculation—it’s an undeniable reality.
Also Read: ₹500 Crore Crypto Scam: Wanted Accused Free for 9 Months
• BMC’s Role in Enabling Fraud
How does BMC approve sweeping layout changes without flat owners’ consent? A buyer who purchased a flat on July 1, 2016, based on the builder’s brochure, later discovered a manipulated floor plan inserted into the final agreement—a textbook bait-and-switch fraud.
On October 17, 2024, BMC-BP approved a revised plan for an already-occupied flat (since November 2021). This suspicious change followed resident complaints about missing amenities and DCPR violations. Months earlier, BP Department officials had claimed such revisions were impossible after the issuance of OC. Yet, they did the impossible exposing their true loyalties. Shockingly, a washroom was inserted into the floor plan after two Part OCs—without the owner’s consent.
Numerous letters and emails forwarded by Hon. PMO, Hon. CM’s office, and Hon. MC’s office to Shri Sunil Hirasingh Rathod (CHE-DP) and Shri Bajirao Patil (DCE) have evoked no response. Every mail forwarded has disappeared into the black hole of BMC-BP dept dce02ws.bp@mcgm.gov.in at Jogeshwari East. Multiple meetings with BP officials, following direct instructions from CHE-DP, have yielded zero action.
• Time for Action: Hold MAHARERA & BMC Accountable
The Kollage scandal isn’t just another dispute—it’s a wake-up call for homeowners across Maharashtra. MAHARERA, which claims to protect buyers, has been complicit—approving extensions based on false submissions, providing baseless RTI responses, and violating Section 14(2) of the MAHARERA Act.
A residential project was illegally converted into a residential-cum-commercial venture, with the MAHARERA portal still listing it as residential, even as a bank operates on the ground floor—space originally sold as a Grand Lobby to flat purchasers. Funds collected for a Club House, including membership and maintenance fees, have vanished—because the Club House itself is missing.
Despite repeated red flags, MAHARERA and BMC continue shielding the builder. Their deliberate negligence, opaque decision-making, and blatant favoritism toward developers must be called out.
• Sprouts is the only newspaper consistently exposing high-profile scams, frauds, and corruption in society.
• Sprouts Investigating Team has meticulously studied documents from BMC’s AutoDCR portal and MAHARERA records, cross-verified information with key insiders, and uncovered one of the most audacious real estate scams unfolding in Mumbai and beyond.
• Will authorities act, or will The Kollage join Mumbai’s long list of buried frauds? Stay tuned for more exclusive revelations only on Sprouts News!