Lift malfunction a daily problem, say residents

Wednesday's lift crash at Jaipuria Sunrise Greens (JSG) group-housing society at Indirapuram in Ghaziabad was not an isolated incident. Peeyush Khandelwal reports.

Wednesday's lift crash at Jaipuria Sunrise Greens (JSG) group-housing society at Indirapuram in Ghaziabad was not an isolated incident.

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Residents and members of the RWA said that the society has a total of 32 lifts, which persistently develop snags and malfunction from time to time. The housing society has 1,100 flats with majority of them occupied.

Seven persons, including two minors, were injured on Wednesday afternoon when a lift installed at the P-block came crashing down from the fifth floor after it developed a snag.

The residents say the developer never paid heed to their complaint against faulty lifts. RWA members said many a time residents got trapped inside lifts.

"Lifts often stop during operations, leaving residents trapped. They also make noise and stop at non-designated floors. We have lodged several complaints with the maintenance department but no one pays heed," says Amit Raghuvanshi, a resident of P-block.

Another resident said in 2008, his father was trapped inside a lift when it fell from floors 16 to 12. "The door had to be opened forcefully and my father was rescued," said Pradeep Malhotra, N-block resident.

In July this year, the residents lodged a complaint at Indirapuram police station after 8-9 people were trapped inside a lift at E-block. In March 2012, the RWA sent a letter to the builder and complained about several incidents that took place inside the lifts of various blocks.

JSG RWA president Gautam De said that they had written several letters to the Ghaziabad Development Authority and district officials about the problem, but no action has been taken.

Ajay Singh, general manager, Jaipuria Infrastructure Developers, said that the maintenance of lift is carried out by a company. "There could be some voltage-fluctuation and problems in the operation due to over-weight. We have time and again told the RWA to take over the maintenance but they refused," Singh said.

All victims - who suffered injuries ranging from fracture to ligament tear - belong to the same family and had come from Hisar for a 'grah-pravesh' ceremony there.