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In absence of maintenance work: ‘Severe’ seepage issues damaging floors & walls in Sulabh Awas flats
According to residents, the Lucknow Development Authority-owned building located in Gomti Nagar Extension has not been repaired since 2016 when people were given the ownership of their flats.
LUCKNOW In Sulabh Awas Sector-4, it rains even without clouds as the entire building has a ‘terrible’ seepage issue and the leaks have become so pronounced that the walls and ceilings of the flats are sustaining damage due to constant exposure to water and moisture.
According to residents, the Lucknow Development Authority-owned building located in Gomti Nagar Extension has not been repaired since 2016 when people were given the ownership of their flats. Despite multiple requests, the residents of the building, also known as Himalayan Apartments, have not seen any maintenance work since its construction.
“There are 144 flats in the building. Out of these, nearly 90% of them have leaks on the inside. You can see the building wall disintegrating from the outside,” said Residents’ Welfare Association (RWA) president MP Dwivedi. He added that the completion certificate of the building construction has not been issued either. Moreover, the promises for upkeep and maintenance made by the LDA while handing over possession of the flats have been entirely neglected.
Dwivedi moved into the building in 2016, and within three-to-four months, the seepage in the walls became apparent. “We have approached the LDA multiple times but to no avail. We have started to collect funds from the residents to take care of some of the issues,” he said. The flat-owners added that the LDA has not undertaken any whitewashing work in the building since 2016, a responsibility they stated would be undertaken by them in the brochure handed over to residents at the time of possession.
“Nearly every bathroom has several leakage points, and this problem is exacerbated after every rain spell,” said Anant Mishra, a resident who has been living with his family on the ground floor since 2016. “The grouting work done on the floor was also faulty, and we can see damage to our floors as well. Waterlogging is also a key problem here.” Talking about the problems being faced by his neighbours, Mishra said that the leakages in the bathroom are so excessive that the water runs into the bedroom when it rains, and therefore, “the owners have not been able to move in”.
Echoing a similar concern, RWA secretary Sanjay Singh Chauhan, who moved into the building in April this year, said, “Maintenance work has never been done in the building, the seepage in the walls is our biggest issue, and it is damaging the building. While new owners can afford repair works inside their flats, it is not possible for us to raise enough money to get the entire building whitewashed. After collecting a token amount for maintenance from the residents, we can only afford to arrange for regular cleaning and garbage pick-up. The leakage problem is the most apparent in the bathrooms.”
When queried about the issue, KK Bansal, the executive engineer of LDA, said that the development authority is looking into the issue and will address all complaints.
