Housing complex in Gomti Nagar sans power for 12 hours

LUCKNOW: Over 220 families at Parsvnath Planet in Gomti Nagar faced a tough time on Tuesday for 12 hours after power supply to the multistorey housing complex was snapped by the Lucknow Electricity Supply Administration (LESA) for non-payment of electricity dues by the developer.

This happened despite the residents paying their electricity dues to the developer regularly. However, the builder reportedly has not paid around Rs 15 lakh to the LESA.

Power supply to Parsvnath Planet in Vibhuti Khand was snapped around 8am. As a result, elevators of the multistorey building became non-operational and residents had to use the staircase. Senior citizens were the worst affected.

It was only after residents took up the issue with the Vibhuti Khand sub-station that power supply to the building was restored after 12 hours around 8.30pm.

“All residents are paying their electricity bills to the builder regularly. But he kept us in the dark and never deposited the money with the LESA,” said Alok Singh, general secretary, Residents’ Welfare Association, Parsvnath Planet.

“We have given an application to LESA to change our connection from single point to multiple point,” he said.

In July, the UP government permitted individual power connections for those living in apartments and multi-storey buildings.

“Tenants and flat owners have been complaining to the state government about fleecing and non-payment of electricity dues by developers. Despite paying their dues regularly, residents of multi-storey buildings suffer,” added Singh.

This is not the first time that the Parsvnath Planet management has defaulted on payment of power dues. Earlier this year, power supply to Parsvnath Planet was snapped due to nonpayment of dues by the developer.

Flat owners at Parsvnath Planet also accused the LDA of turning a blind eye to their complaints against the developer who failed to complete the project on time despite payments by allottees.

The allottees also accused the LDA of issuing partial completion certificate to seven out of 10 towers of Parsvnath Planet, Vibhuti Khand, project in 2015 despite the fact that a large number of flats in these towers were still incomplete. In all, there are 540 flats in Parsvnath Planet housing scheme.