Residents hold protest against their builder
NOIDA : Almost 100 residents of a high-rise in Sector 75 gathered on Sunday to protest against the builder, days after a flat on the 14th floor of Apex Athena society was destroyed in a fire and two people had received minor injuries in the blaze.
On January 3, a fire was reported from B block of the society. Residents alleged the fire had completely destroyed the flat, but allegedly none of the firefighting equipment in the society had been functional at the time.
“After the incident, a sense of fear has seeped into the people and they are feeling insecure. Fortunately, the fire was controlled before it could spread to the other floors. But what is worrying is that despite paying a large amount of maintenance fees, the sprinkler systems, smoke detectors, and others didn’t kick in,” Varun Mittal, president of the society’s resident welfare association, said.
Residents also said apart from the fire incident there are other issues in the society as well.
“The basement is also incomplete and there is no parking allotment is not proper. Work in the garden is also in tatters. Issues like a fire incident or a dysfunctional lift can lead to major accidents in the future and such issues need to be addressed immediately,” Mittal said.
He alleged that the builder had not taken cognisance of the issues and visited the society after the fire, and has not handed over the society to the apartment owners’ association.
Following the fire, residents had also filed a complaint against the builder and the maintenance agency at the Sector 49 police station. Police officers said an investigation in the matter is being carried out by the Sector 58 fire station officer.
“The systems that have been handed over to us are operational. The delay on the day of the fire had been because our system was on manual mode. Everything that has been given to us by the builder is working properly,” Deepak Joshi, the estate manager, said.
“In our project, approximately 440 families (1200 people) live. Only those 30-40 people who are not paying dues are protesting. Almost ₹18 crore is due. All facilities like electricity, water, fire, lift etc are up to date (sic),” Satnam Singh, the developer, said.