Gurugram high-rise residents claim structural audit reports not given to them

Gurgaon roof collapse has drastically impacted the trust quotient of homebuyers towards builders (Image Source: ML Khattar/Twitter)

Residents of high-rise societies in Gurugram said they are yet to get the reports of structural safety audits that were conducted in October and November in the wake of the collapse of a portion of a tower in Chintels Paradiso.

The residents said the audit reports were submitted to the district administration a fortnight ago. Gurugram Deputy Commissioner Nishant Kumar Yadav ordered the safety audits of 17 high-rise societies in August. The residents approached the administration to get safety audits of their buildings carried out after they complained of structural deficiencies in them.

Building safety became a matter of concern in Gurugram after two people were killed when the floors of six apartments collapsed in Chintels Paradiso complex in Sector 109. Separately, residents of NBCC Green View in Sector 39D had to move out after a safety audit showed their apartments were structurally unsafe.

District administration officials said the structural audit reports had been submitted to the deputy commissioner but are yet to be reviewed.

“The audit of Central Park-2 was ordered after a portion of Tower D in Chintels Paradiso collapsed in February,” said Prabhat Bhardwaj, president of the Bellevue Central Park-2 residents’ welfare association. “We have come to know that the audit has been completed and the report has been submitted to the district administration but we are yet to get that report.”

Review pending

Bhardwaj told Moneycontrol on December 7 that whenever the residents asked for the audit report they were told it would be released after a review by the deputy commissioner and officials of the Department of Town and Country Planning.

Moneycontrol reached out to Yadav for comments on the matter but there was no response from him.

The structural audits were conducted in Antriksh Heights (Sector 84), Brisk Lumbini Terrace Homes (Sector 109), Central Park 2 Bellevue (Sector 48), M3M Woodshire (Sector 107), Mapsko Casabella (Sector 82), Mapsko Paradise (Sector 83), Mapsko Royal Village (Sector 82), Paras Irene (Sector 70A), DLF Park Place (Sector 54), Raheja Atharva (Sector 109), Raheja Vedanta (Sector 108), Signature Global Solera 1 (Sector 107), Spaze Privy (Sector 72), AIPL The Peaceful Homes (Sector 70A), Tulip Ivory (Sector 70), Uniworld Gardens 2 (Sector 47) and Mahindra Aura (Sector 110A).

TC Malhotra, vice president of The Peaceful Homes Condominium Association, said they have not yet received the audit report. He said the structural safety audit of towers in his society was conducted over seven days in November.

He said that the main problems in his society were seepage and cracks. Water seeps down to basement level two from any floor where there is a problem. A leaking pipeline on the 15th floor would send water to the basement.

“The audit team also had civil engineers, who took cognisance of the problems in the buildings,” he said. “It is a matter of our safety and we have the right to know the findings of the report so that we can plan accordingly.”

Malhotra said the RWA of the society will soon establish formal communication with the DC office to get the report or at least its findings.

The administration selected four companies for the structural audits and the entire process was to have been completed in 45 days.

The deputy commissioner ordered the demolition of Tower D of Chintels Paradiso on November 9 after a structural safety audit report by the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi said the building was not safe.