‘No Solution in Sight’: Chintels Paradiso Residents As Tower To Be Demolished

On 9 Feb, an apartment on the sixth floor of the Chintels Paradiso Society collapsed all the way to the first floor.

Chintels Paradiso collapse: An IIT-Delhi team finds traces of rust indicating corrosion in the debris of the building, submit prelim report.

(File Photo: PTI)

“There is a lot of back-and-forth and no solution in sight,” a resident of the Chintels Paradiso Society in Gurugram told The Quint as the Supreme Court issued a notice to the builders to settle their dues with the flat owners after authorities ordered the demolition of the building.

The district authority found the building unsafe for habitation and stated that it is not technically possibly or economically viable to repair and retrofit the tower because of the "high chloride content in the concrete throughout the structure," Moneycontrol reported citing an order of the District Disaster Management Authority.

Meanwhile, Chintels is considering a second structural audit, before taking a final call on the demolition of Tower D of the housing society, where a portion of the building had collapsed in February this year killing two people.

Nearly 10 months after the accident, the residents are still fighting, in what they fear is going to be a "long-drawn battle", for fair compensation. Residents said they have have met the builder several times, but have found no solution.

What is the case, and what have been the developments so far? Here is a lowdown:

What happened?

On 9 February this year, the living room of an apartment on the sixth floor in Tower D of the Chintels Paradiso Society in Gurugram collapsed all the way to the first floor. It was such a horrific collapse that two residents died after being buried alive under the rubble.

Tower D of Chintels Paradiso is an 18-storey building with 64 flats. The high-end housing society is located in Sector 109 of Gurugram, along the Dwarka Expressway.

Chintels Paradiso housing society, Sector 109, Gurugram

(Photo: PTI)

How did this happen?

Residents alleged that while the flats were of sub-standard quality, repairs being carried out by the developer on the sixth floor were done without providing any support to the floor below.

Did the builder take responsibility?

In a now protected tweet dated 11 February, Prashant Solomon, managing director of Chintels, regretted the incident and claimed that the repairs were being done by a resident of the sixth floor.

“This is an extremely unfortunate incident and we have taken it very seriously as the safety of our residents is our utmost concern,” the tweet read.

What are the residents now demanding?

Residents of Tower D have been rehabilitated in apartments of another of the total eight towers in the Chintels Paradiso Society.  “The larger sentiment is that the builder reconstructs a new flat in the same place after the existing tower is demolished,” one of the residents of Tower D told The Quint.

Labourers shift household items of the displaced residents of the Chintels Paradiso housing societys building that collapsed.

(File Photo: PTI)

“In the meanwhile, we can continue to stay in the temporary apartment in which we were rehabilitated after the accident,” they added, admitting that the builders ensured proper rehabilitation, including paying rent for those who chose not to stay in a different tower of the Chintels’ housing society.

There are some residents, however, who are eager to settle their dues and exit the complex.

“There are investors, senior citizens who don’t want to get embroiled into a court case. All they want is to be compensated fairly. But the district administration did not value our flats properly, giving us Rs 5,400 -5,900 per square feet, when the current value is nearly double the amount.”

Resident, Chintels Paradiso Society, Gurugram

The residents have now demanded a reassessment of the valuation of properties at par with the current rates of the real estate market in Gurugram, and inclusive of extra charges paid by them such as registry, extra development costs, etc.

What action was taken?

After the accident, a team of experts from IIT-Delhi conducted a structural audit of the affected building. It was commissioned by the Haryana government. The final report was on 8 November submitted to Gurugram Deputy Commissioner Nishant Yadav, who also heads the District Disaster Management Authority.

Following the recommendation of the report, Yadav ordered the demolition of the building and directed the builder to settle the dues of the residents within 60 days of the date of issuance of the demolition order, Moneycontrol reported. However, no date has been fixed for demolition yet, a resident told The Quint.

The Supreme Court had on 21 November issued a notice to the builders, asking them to settle their dues with the flat owners. The top court set 6 January 2023 as the next date of hearing, according to the petitioners.

What has Chintels said?

Meanwhile, the builder of Chintels Paradiso Society on 1 December, in a mail to the society’s Residents Welfare Association (RWA) said, it will take another opinion on the structural strength of the building before it takes a final call on the demolition, news agency PTI has reported.

It said it has had preliminary discussions with the Central Building Research Institute (CBRI) and Engineers India Limited (EIL) for another structural audit in order to get a second opinion.