News: FIR over ‘poor construction’ after DTCP goes to cops against realtor-06-08-2021
Gurgaon: A leading city-based developer with multiple projects across NCR has been booked for poor construction quality of a residential society in the new sector of Gurgaon. The case was registered against Raheja Developers on a complaint filed by the department of town and country planning (DTCP) in connection with Vedaanta in Sector 108.Despite repeated attempts, Naveen Raheja, the MD of Raheja Developers, could not be contacted.
The department has been receiving complaints from Raheja Vedaanta residents about the sub-standard construction quality in the housing society and despite repeated notices, the developer had failed to carry out repair work. Earlier, the Haryana Real Estate Regulatory Authority (H-Rera) had also directed the developer to complete the repair work.
Spread across 10.68 acres of land in Sector 108, the developer got a licence for the residential group housing society in 2007 from DTCP. Construction work at the project site started in 2008 and the developer started giving possession to homebuyers from 2014. The issues regarding structural issues have been raised by the residents since 2018.
The president of Vedaanta RWA, Gautam Sen, said the problem started with seepage in the basement of one of the towers. “Gradually cracks started appearing in the pillars, walls and the façade of the tower buildings. Our repeated complaints to the developer only fell on deaf ears. A subsequent audit by experts also pointed out structural defects and weakening structures due to cracks in the pillars.”
Sen said that after a series of complaints and an order from H-Rera in September 2020, the developer started some work but it did not fix the problem of seepage. “There is a need to locate the problem for seepage in the basement and fix it. The problem can be fixed but it will cost several crores as per the report prepared by experts,” he added.
In June, the district town planner of Gurgaon directed the developer to submit a status report regarding repair work within seven days. However, the reply was received from the builder after nearly a month.
In its response, the builder claimed that the project was completed in 2014 and the maintenance was subsequently handed over to the RWA. The issue was raised five years after the upkeep was handed over to the RWA, “so the builder cannot be held liable for the repairs”. “The building has some minor cracks, which do not fall under the definition of structural defects.” However, as per norms, the responsibility for maintenance and upkeep of roads, open spaces, public parks and public health services for a period of five years from the date of getting the completion certificate lies with the developer. Besides, structural deficiency, if any, in a building is the responsibility of the developer only, as per the condition of the licence.
“The developer should be held responsible for the poor structure of the building,” said DTP (planning) Sanjay Sharma in his report.
