Based on a report by IIT Delhi, Gurugram Deputy Commissioner Nishant Kumar Yadav has given a demolition order for Tower-D having 50 flats of Chintels Paradiso condominium in Sector 109 of Gurugram in the line of Noida twin towers on Saturday.
On February 10, 2022, two persons lost their lives after a slab of 6th floor of Tower D collapsed partially during repair work. Following the incident, the State Government formed a committee to probe the matter, and a structural audit of the building was also ordered.
A committee was constituted under the chairmanship of Additional Deputy Commissioner (ADC), Vishram Kumar Meena who was probing the matter. "The team from IIT Delhi has found structural lapses in the construction of this tower, whose repair is not possible on technical and economic grounds, Therefore, the tower should completely be demolished," Yadav told reporters. "An attempt was made to cover up the structural deficiencies found in Tower-D by painting the rusted bars due to low-quality construction material and chlorine in the water," Yadav said.
Apart from this, Yadav said, reports of structural safety complaints from 16 different housing societies in the district will also come by November 15, after which a decision will be taken about them".
"The investigation report of IIT Delhi has been submitted in which it had found that there were structural defects in the Tower-D of Chintels Paradiso. Low-level concrete was used in the construction of the building, which is not possible to repaire on technical and economic grounds. The committee found that the steelwork and reinforcement work in the building had been painted to hide the rust.
Along with this, the work of retrofitting of the flat on the sixth floor of Tower-D was also not being done without monitoring and as per the prescribed norms. For this, the responsibility of Chintels Paradiso Company and Manish Switch Gear Pvt Ltd has been fixed," he added.
He also informed that the team of IIT Delhi has also recommended that the process of demolition should be started by closing Tower-D.
Meanwhile, the Deputy Commissioner said that the detailed report of the Administrative Committee constituted under the chairmanship of ADC Meena is also expected to be submitted by Monday. After that, the district administration will take further action in this regard. He said that based on the investigation report of IIT Delhi, orders will be given to the developer to settle the claim with the allottees of Tower-D.
There will be three options in front of the allottees. The builder or the developer, in coordination with the allottees of Tower-D at his level, will settle the claim at his level within the stipulated period and will give this information in writing to the district administration.
Under another option, for the convenience of the allottees, two independent evaluators would be engaged, who would assess the current prices of flats etc. and give their reports.
Thereafter, it will be mandatory for the developer to accept the price decided by the evaluator and that amount will be given to the allottee. If the allottees are not satisfied even after this, then they can go to court and seek relief. Similarly, the process of structural audit is going on in Tower-E and Tower-F of the same society and its report will come soon. Till then, by vacating these two towers, the builder has to enter into a rent agreement with their flat owners.
Apart from this, the Deputy Commissioner said that complaints were received from 70 different societies related to structural audit in the district, out of which 16 societies were selected for structural audit in the first phase.
Apart from agency for structural audit in these societies, builder's representatives and members of RWAs have also been included so that fair investigation can be done.
"The reports of 16 societies will be submitted by November 15. In societies, the responsibility was entrusted to listing two agencies for structural audit, which will tell in their report whether this society is safe to live in or not," he said.