the government it appears is out of touch with the reality of affordable housing at a time when finding modest shelter even in a delhi slum is a pipedream for many thousands of flats built for the economicallyweaker sections ews in bawana are vacantbut the most worrying aspect of the inordinate delay in allotment is that land sharks have set their eyes on these flats when a times city team visited the new housing complex built under rajiv ratan awaas yojna the upa governments flagship programme it found advertisement boards announcing sale and purchase of the neatly lined up ews flatsthe area was abuzz with stories of how the property mafia was keeping a hawkish vigil on all the ews flats in bawana narela kanjhawala and baprola the 7902 lockedup and lifeless flats are a picture in contrast to the preelection fanfare the area witnessed when upa chairperson sonia gandhi launched the housing scheme in 2008delay in occupation has meant a swift entry for property mafia in sector3 in bawana where neat rows of red brick ews flats can be seen its not hard to locate property dealers locals guide you to the chairs placed near the boundary wall inside the complex property dealers function out of here says a local pleading anonymityand its not all about clandestine operation here times city found a board propped on a streetlight announcing the name of a builder company two cars parked outside a flat was a telltale sign of an operational site office a man emerged from inside and could not give any plausible explanation for his presence there on being told that there was nothing to worry he replied with a nervous laugh aisi koi baat nahin hai waise bhi yahan agar koi museebat aati hai toh hum log hi manage karte hain we take care of any problem heremove down and a board announces a construction material dealer a passerby points that this is an office another board appears in the next block slowly signs of life show up as people curiously peep from balconies of the few flats that are occupied a woman sitting outside revealed that she lives here on rent her husband a construction worker pays rs 1500 as rent to a factory ownera few houses away an old man sitting on a chair points to the oneroom unit he has bought for rs 4lakh proudly claiming that the going rate for a groundfloor flat was around rs 5lakh in another row times city spotted a man who claimed to be a factory owner he claimed that he lives in a flat with four of his workers and pays a rent of rs 3000a quick tour of the housing complex in sector 3 in bawana is enough to establish that mafia has taken over and all rules regarding ews flats have been violated as per the policy ews housing units should be owned by an original allottee and can neither be sold nor rented out activist dunu