The Chintels Paradiso saga is clearly not one with associations with heaven. On February 10, 2023, a portion of a sixth-floor apartment in the housing society’s Tower D collapsed all the way to the first floor last year, killing two, putting the whole complex firmly under the scanner and placed under a structural safety audit by a panel from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Delhi. A series of studies and resultant reports then saw orders issued for residents of various towers to vacate since their towers were declared unsafe for habitation.
Now, one more tower in the housing complex in Gurugram, the capital’s suburb in Haryana, has been declared “unsafe for habitation” in the structural audit report submitted to the Gurugram administration, which ordered the tower’s evacuation, officials said.
They said that Nishant Kumar Yadav, deputy commissioner (DC), Gurugram, has issued orders to vacate Tower H of the Chintels Paradiso Society in Sector 109 weeks after a structural safety audit report of the tower by a panel from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Delhi, was submitted to the administration.
Officials said that during the review of the report, it was found that Tower H was “unsafe for human habitation” and should be vacated within 15 days. Following the structural safety audit report, the district administration issued a notice directing the residents to vacate the tower within 15 days.
The notice said that the district town planner (enforcement) has been appointed the nodal officer and duty magistrate for the evacuation of residents. It also said that legal action would be taken under Section 188 of the Indian Penal Code and Section 51 to 60 of the Disaster Management Act, 2005, against those who violate these orders.
Officials said that according to the IIT Delhi report two other towers, B and C, of the society are not unsafe as of now but deterioration could be seen in these towers too.
Sixteen families live in Tower H, which has 52 flats.
On June 2, 2023, Tower G of Chintels Paradiso Society was declared "unsafe for habitation" after a structural safety audit, making it the fifth tower to be so declared. Prior to this, towers D, E and F were declared "unsafe to live". There are a total of nine towers in the society.
Reacting to the development, JN Yadav VP Chintels India, said that they have already extended the settlement offer to all residents of Phase 1 of Chintels Paradiso.
"We welcome the administration’s decision to ask them to vacate. This is for their own safety and our priority has always been residents’ safety. We have already settled with 118 residents which are in various stages. Fifty-six residents have received 100 percent monetary settlement, 43 have received 10 percent and 19 have signed consent forms," Yadav told Moneycontrol.
Rakesh Hooda, president, the Residents Welfare Association of Chintels Paradiso Society, said that residents have not received a copy of the order so far.
Also Read: Chintels Paradiso: Approach consumer forum SC tells residents of towers E, F & G
"We have come to know about the evacuation order of Tower H but we are yet to get any copy of the latest order. Residents demand that the builder should pay rent (for alternative accommodation that occupants of evacuated flats will have to move into) to affected homebuyers of the project and reconstruct their flats at the same site,” Hooda said, repeating homebuyers’ demands.
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