Gurugram ceiling collapse: Societies seek structural audit of buildings

A day after the ceiling collapse of multiple flats in Chintels Paradiso, residents of nearby residential societies demanded a structural audit of all buildings in the area from IIT professionals.

The members of Dwarka Expressway (DXP) residents’ welfare association, which has members from over 85 societies, protested at Bajghera police station and at Chintels Paradiso on Friday and demanded intervention from the state government. They urged the authorities to resolve all complaints that are pending at the district town planning office.

The residents alleged that despite their repeated complaints over poor construction materials used in the construction of the buildings, no department paid any heed to their concerns. The welfare association also called a meeting and prepared a letter to chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar, highlighting their concerns and urged him to properly compensate the victims and their kin.

DXP residents’ welfare association president Yashesh Yadav said that they have drafted a letter for Haryana chief minister and deputy chief minister and demanded that a committee be formed for structural audit of the buildings by IIT professionals. “We want the core team to have at least two residents who can also monitor the ongoing activities and the outcome. We want transparency and clarity on all the ongoing investigations and action from the government,” he said.

Yadav said they have also demanded compensation for the victims, who have lost their family members and have suffered huge losses due to the collapse.

Navdeep Singh, a member of the welfare association, said that they want the government to oversee the structural designs. “The government needs to take stringent action against buildings that need repairs as complaints of balcony and lift lobby collapse have been reported several times in the past. The incident is clearly a structural design failure, the roof can’t fall due to a simple renovation work. The responsibility lies with the design engineers as well as the engineers who approved the materials for construction. Eventually, the responsibility lies with the builder. There were visible issues with the quality of materials that were used for construction,” he said.

The residents of other residential societies who have been running pillar-to-post and waiting for redressal of their complaints, said that they need urgent intervention from agencies to ensure their lives are not at risk.

Gaurav Prakash, a resident of Brisk Lumbini in Sector 109, said that all poor constructions that threaten lives must be investigated by the government. “Steps at the right time can stop accidents in the future. This is alarming, especially, after what happened in Chintels on Thursday,” he said.

Residents of a condominium in Sector 37D alleged that despite their repeated complaints that plaster had fallen from higher floors, the authorities have failed to pay any heed. “There is no agency accountable for the safety of residents,” said Hemant Kumar Pal, a resident.

Residents from other sectors took to social media and said that it is high time that safety is ensured in condominiums. “Gurugram is full of multi-storey buildings and we do not have any rules as to the extent of renovation one can do and the kind of weight the building can withstand. The authorities will not move an inch. We will have to push this to ensure our safety. Let us take this up on a war-footing”, said Gauri Sarin, the founder of Making Model Gurugram.

Sarin said if the situation continues to persist, the residents will need to set up a committee. “We have formed a committee for waste management and now we will form one for structural audits of these buildings,” she added.