Portions of wall, ceiling collapse in another society in Sector 109
GURUGRAM: Portions of a wall and ceiling of two flats in a Sector 109 housing society collapsed on Friday and Saturday, just days after a collapse killed two people in Chintels Paradiso in the same sector on Thursday.
Residents of Raheja Atharva, a residential complex in Sector 109, alleged that the external unit of a split AC fell from a third floor apartment of Tower H to the ground due to a poorly constructed wall on Saturday. No one was injured, residents confirmed. On Friday, a portion of a ceiling of a drawing room of a tenth floor flat in the same tower collapsed. There were no people in the room at the time of the incident, said neighbours.
A representative of Raheja Athava did not respond to messages seeking comment on the incidents of structural collapse.
Anjan Deveshwar, a resident of Raheja Atharva, alleged incidents of structural collapse have been reported from their society quite often, but authorities are yet to take action.
“We have been struggling since last September but in vain. We will protest against the district town and country planning (DTCP) department, which sanctions occupancy certificates,” he said.
The repeated incidents of structural collapses have sparked panic among the residents, who are planning to stage a protest at Brisk Lumbini condominium in Sector 109 on Sunday. Residents of over 80 residential societies are likely to participate in the protest.
Residents demand that every building, which has issues regarding repair works, should be inspected by teams involving officials, who issue occupancy and completion certificates.
If the issues are not resolved by the developer within six months, the developer should be held guilty and be made to pay for the repairs or refund the price of the flat, said residents.
Ajay Sharma, a resident of a condominium in Sector 70, said quality check of raw materials is essential in all under-construction housing societies. “What seems to be clearly missing is a technical body to check the construction at the 30%, 60% and 90% completion stage and assess it from the point of compliance to set standards before any kind of occupancy certificate is issued,” he said.
“The DTCP should have a portal, where all realty consultants should enrol themselves and buyers can choose any expert of their choice. We need to form a group and rope in two officers from DTCP, with consent from the headquarters in Chandigarh, who will monitor post-possession repair works, so that such incidents can be avoided in the future. We need to have certain modalities in place to improve the system of granting occupancy certificates,” said Sharma.
R S Bhath, district town planner, said that they will be looking into all complaints pending at their office and will try to resolve them. “Currently, we are looking into the reason behind the collapse in Raheja Atharva in Sector 109. We will ensure audits are conducted and repairs are carried out in the housing societies, wherever necessary, at the earliest,” he said.