Chintels developer told to draw up plan within five days to empty towers

The order issued on Thursday said towers E and F should be vacated immediately for the safety of residents

The district town planner on Thursday directed the developer of Chintels Paradiso in Sector 109 to submit within five days the timeline and procedure for getting towers E and F of the condominium vacated.

A view of the Chintels Paradiso residential society in Gurugram on November 7. (Vipin Kumar/ HT Photo)

The order issued on Thursday said the two towers should be vacated immediately for the safety of residents.

“You should adhere to the terms and conditions for relocation and shifting of families of Tower E and F as there have been signs of distress on various floors. This should be treated as urgent and you shall be held responsible, if any incident takes place in these towers,” said Amit Madholia, DTP (enforcement), in his order addressed to the developer.

Chintels, the real estate developer, did not respond to calls and messages seeking comments on Thursday.

The order comes a day after the Gurugram deputy commissioner ordered that the process to demolish Tower D -- two people were killed there in February after the roofs of six flats collapsed -- start immediately. He also directed that the developer settle all dues of flat owners in Tower D within a period of 60 days.

Yadav’s order further stated that Towers E and F had to be vacated and the structural audit report on the two buildings will be released within 20 days.

Madholia in his order on Thursday stated that since he has been appointed the nodal officer in charge of vacating the two towers with the assistance of police, the developer has been directed to submit the timeline and procedure for vacating families within five days.

“In case of failure to comply with these directions, it shall be treated as wilful negligence,” read the order.

There are 56 apartments in Tower E and 60 in Tower F of which only 25 each are presently occupied.

The department of town and country planning (DTCP) repaired and renovated 40 apartments in four towers of Chintels Paradiso to shift families whose apartments were damaged when multiple ceilings in Tower D collapsed on February 10.

The order further stated that as per the IIT-Delhi report, the structure of Tower D is not safe for habitation and due to high chloride content in the concrete, the structure is also not technically and economically feasible for any kind of repair.

“Therefore, you are directed to start the process of demolition of this tower; till then, Tower D should be permanently closed to people,” said the order.

Madholia reiterated in the order that since Towed D is unsafe, the developer was directed to settle the claims of all the allottees of Tower D within 60 days and was asked to submit an undertaking to that effect. “Two independent valuation agencies were empanelled for valuation and we have directed that the value of interiors must be included in the valuation. The final value of the unit shall be the higher of the two valuations done by the two agencies,” he said.

The decision to demolish Tower D was taken after a three-member Indian Institute of Technology-Delhi (IIT-D) committee, formed to conduct a structural audit of the building, stated in its September report that the structure deteriorated faster than expected, even though the condominium was only occupied for about five years.

The team also found significant corrosion of steel reinforcement in the debris of the tower, high chloride content in the concrete, and rust marks during a visual inspection.

A magisterial inquiry report, submitted on Wednesday by a committee headed by the additional deputy commissioner, stated that the developer neglected the demands and issues raised by the RWA and residents. “The repair work was also not monitored. The committee observed that excessively corroded steel reinforcement was painted with a yellow coloured solution to conceal the corrosion. This lapse is further corroborated by the IIT-Delhi report,” said DC Yadav.

The residents of Chintels Paradiso on Thursday held a meeting to discuss their next course of action.

Sonam Arora, treasurer, Chintels Paradiso residents’ welfare association, said they are not satisfied with the evaluation report, and will challenge the report in the court. “The valuation is less than the circle rate of the area. We will get a parallel evaluation done to ascertain the cost of apartments in the area. We will not vacate the apartments until our demands are met,” she said.

Manoj Singh another resident, said they are disappointed after seeing the valuation report. “Tower D is already vacated but we will only vacate the other tower once we are given all the details of the settlement. We are unaware of the interim arrangements and we do not want to shift to the apartments selected by the developer. We have been compromising since the beginning, but now we will take a stand and fight for our rights,” he said.