Noida: Mahagun Moderne residents protest against AOA, demands election

NOIDA: A group of residents of Mahagun Moderne housing society in Sector 78 on Sunday protested against the apartment owners association (AOA), demanding fresh elections

NOIDA: A group of residents of Mahagun Moderne housing society in Sector 78 on Sunday protested against the apartment owners association (AOA), demanding fresh elections to form a new executive body. However, AOA office bearers alleged that the protest is backed by the developer who does not want to hand over the maintenance of the society.

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Protesters shouting slogans against AOA carried out a march in the society, demanding immediate action from the Noida authority. “For the past three years, no election has taken place in our society. We want democratically elected AOA that looks after the maintenance in the society. We are not satisfied with the maintenance by the current AOA. We hope the authority will look into this issue,” said Himanshu Shekhar Singh, a resident of society.

The residents alleged that the existing AOA office bearers are “hand in glove” with the developer and not practising transparency in their conduct. “There is no transparency in keeping the accounts of our society. And if we dare to question, then AOA office bearers use foul language and misbehave,” said Indrani Mukherjee, another resident.

However, AOA refuted all the allegations. “We have fought against the developer and won a case for the welfare of the society. In compliance with Allahabad high court’s order on November 18, 2019, the Noida authority ordered the developer to hand over maintenance to AOA and Rs 20 crore interest-free maintenance security (IFMS). A handful of residents want to stop that ongoing process to benefit developer. The majority of residents are with us. And we are ready for elections once the handover process is over,” said Sandeep Chauhan, president of AOA of Mahagun Moderne.

“We will file a defamation case against those, who are throwing mud on us,” said Chauhan.

Amit Jain, promoter of Mahagun, said that they are not supporting any of the side. “We could not hand over the maintenance because of issues in AOA. But we will take steps to implement the Noida authority’s order on handing over the maintenance as per rules,” said

The Noida authority CEO, Ritu Maheshwari, said, “Once the case is decided by the authority, then it is closed from our side.”

The developer, Mahagun, had started offering possession to buyers in 2018. An AOA was elected in 2018 for this society, which had 2,700 flats spread over an area of 25 acres. However, maintenance has not been handed over yet.