News: Residents pool in money to repair Fresco Apartments in Gurugram’s Sector 50-17-04-2022
Residents alleged that there have been instances of people having a narrow escape from chunks of plaster and bricks falling from the building
Rattled by the collapse of multiple floors at the Chintels Paradiso housing complex in Gurugram Sector 109 on February 10, residents of Fresco Apartments in Sector 50, where chunks of bricks and plaster are allegedly falling from the building, have taken it upon themselves to collect money and get the facade repaired to avoid meeting a similar fate.
Residents said they moved into the housing society in 2010 and since then, no repairs have been carried out. Each of the homebuyers paid between ₹50 lakh to ₹80 lakh for the flats. As per norms, the builder is supposed to maintain the society until it is not handed over to the RWA but here, the responsibility of maintenance was not handed over to the RWA.
There are 16 towers spread across 17 acres with more than 800 families living in the society, which was developed by Unitech group. However, the firm has not carried out the repairs as it declared bankruptcy. Even now, the residents keep paying ₹7000 per month to the developer.
Nilesh Tandon, president of the RWA, said approximately ₹4 crore is required to carry out the repairs in the society. “We have collected around ₹1 crore so far. We are collecting money cluster wise, in instalments, so that the residents don’t feel the pressure of payments at one go,” he said.
Residents alleged that there have been instances of people having a narrow escape from chunks of plaster and bricks falling from the building. Members of the residents’ welfare association (RWA) said the external façade of the building is in bad shape since the builder used very poor quality material to paint the building.
Tandon said they have been writing to the department of town and country planning (DTCP) about the issues plaguing the society several times. When they failed to help them, the residents approached the chief minister’s window in 2020. Several meetings were held but there was no positive outcome.
“Residents were rattled after the mishap at Chintels Paradisco and feared for their lives, following which a decision to fix the external facade of the building was taken after taking the consent of all the residents. There have been more than 20 incidents, where chunks of plaster scraped off the building and residents had a narrow escape,” he said.
Tandon said in the past, the enforcement team of the DTCP held many meetings with the builder and the residents but it yielded no results and after waiting for two years, they finally started the repair work. “We had even filed a police complaint when a big portion of a brick fell from the building. The developer assured to carry out the repair work. He started the repairs but left the work in between and is not responding since then,” he said.
Residents alleged since Unitech cannot spend money without permission and approval from the Supreme Court, the work could not be carried out. In 2020, the court appointed a committee which would tell what to spend and where but due to the complicated and complex process, residents did not follow up.
Residents also met the new management, which expressed its inability to repair and paint the building till they got funds and permission from the committee appointed by the court.
With the backs to the wall and the condition of the building deteriorating everyday, residents formed a committee in 2021 and worked on the scope of work, finalisation of the vendor, collection of funds and getting the building repaired and painted.
Over 830 flat owners are contributing ₹50,000- ₹60000 each, with the approximate project cost standing at ₹4 crore, to get the building painted. The repair work started on April 6 this year, said an RWA member.
“Fresco Apartments has been infamous for seepage into flats, leading the plaster to fall. For the last five years, our committees have been working in resolving seepage issues in every flat. Now that the seepage issues are resolved, we are going ahead with the work of getting the buildings painted,” said Vaibhav Singla, a member of Facade committee, a panel formed by residents in January this year to fix issues plaguing the society.
“The residents collectively paid ₹4 crore to the builder in 2010 for the maintenance of the building. The old management didn’t honour the commitment neither did the new management, citing legal reasons. Finally, the residents contributed money and are getting the buildings painted. It has been a task of collecting money from the flat owners since a majority of them stay outside Gurugram or abroad but the dedicated committee members made it possible,” said Sanjeev Sharma, a committee member.
In January 2020, the Supreme Court directed the central government to take total control of Unitech, after the company defaulted on major loans. The court appointed a committee, which would tell what to spend and in which of the housing projects undertaken by Unitech, said officials.
District town planner (enforcement) R S Bhath said they had organised several meetings, where the developer agreed to undertake the repairs but did not start. “The Supreme Court had formed a committee consisting of senior retired officials for redressal of issues but the builder stopped the repairs due to lack of funds. If residents are facing any issues, they can reach out to us and we will send the matter to the headquarters for the final decision,” he said.
The builder’s representative did not comment despite repeated messages and calls.
