More than a fortnight after the district administration had directed 140 families – 100 in EWS flats and 40 in other apartments – living in NBCC Green View group housing society in Gurgaon’s Sector 37D to vacate their houses by March 1, citing safety concerns, the department of town and country planning (DTCP) said that the process is likely to be completed by Monday.
The decision was taken in the aftermath of the collapse at Chintels Paradiso in Sector 109, where two women were killed when a portion of the sixth floor crashed all the way through to the first floor, prompting the government to order structural audits of several societies.
The administration had earlier set a deadline of March 1, which was extended till Friday on the request of some residents.
A structural audit by IIT-Delhi in October 2021 had declared that the buildings in the society, built by state-owned construction firm National Building Construction Corporation (NBCC), as unsafe to live in and asked the residents to vacate within two months. On February 16, after a joint meeting with society residents and NBCC officials, the district administration had declared the society “unsafe” for residents, adding that the decision had been taken to ensure that something untoward does not occur in the future. The district administration had said that the developer would provide alternative accommodation to residents till repairs were done and cost of shifting would also be borne by the developer.
Nishant Kumar Yadav, deputy commissioner, Gurgaon, said that the evacuation process would be completed soon.
An official, requesting anonymity, said, “As of Thursday evening, out of 25 owners of the main high-rise building, the rent of 23 flat owners has been given by NBCC for six months to the tune of about Rs 22,000 per month. Ten families have already shifted, five have partially shifted and three have requested for a few days due to their health emergency conditions. Ten families living on rent have also shifted. For 70 EWS families, options in nearby areas have been shown and discussed with families and shifting will be done in two days.”
R S Bhath, district town planner (enforcement), said, “A majority of families and house owners living in the main complex have already shifted and have been paid advance rent, barring one or two families who had requested an extension. There was an issue related to payment of advance rent to 70 families living in EWS (economically weaker section) apartments, which are mostly rented. These modalities have also been worked out. On Thursday, I had issued a notice to the developer for providing relief to EWS flat occupants and payment of advance rent for six months and shifting charge for these families. The process has been initiated and verification of at least 18 of those has been done. By Monday, the evacuation and shifting process is likely to be completed.”
S C Kaushik, vice-president, Association of Apartment Owners (AOAO), NBCC Green View Group Housing, said, “The authorities have paid advance rent of six months on the basis of Rs 12.5 per square feet. We have had to shift to a much smaller house. I was living in a four BHK in the society. One cannot get a four BHK for Rs 20,000 per month rent in Gurgaon. Our lives have been turned upside down. We are still awaiting a legally binding assurance from the developer regarding the refund, which the district administration had said we would get within a month’s time.”