Residents of Greater Noida housing society protest against builder for safety lapses

Holding placards with slogans against the builder, over 150 residents of Supertech Ecovillage-2 in Greater Noida (West) held a protest on Sunday, demanding repair works in the housing society.

On May 24, two cousins — Siddharth Kumar (12) and Abheek alias Radhe Shekhar (10), had fallen from the shaft of the ninth floor of B-6 tower of the society and were grievously injured. Both the children are still undergoing treatment at a private hospital in Sector 71.

Residents said that several safety issues still mar the society and similar mishaps are waiting to happen. DK Sinha, a resident of the society, alleged that the builder handed over the flat to homebuyers without completely finishing the construction work.

“There are 30 towers and 3,500 flats in the society but at least eight towers are still under construction. The shafts of the towers where work has been completed is covered with sturdy materials to prevent mishaps but the new ones where the possession has been given recently do not have quality work done,” Sinha said.

Manish Kumar, vice president of Noida Extension Flat Owners’ Welfare Association (NEFOWA) said that several protests have been staged by residents raising the issue of poor quality of work done by the builder. “The residents who have paid through their nose to afford their dream homes are being cheated by the builder as they have not delivered quality work. If the shaft door had been sturdy, the children would not have fallen in the first place,” he said.

Siddharth’s father Amit Kumar informed that his son will have a spinal surgery on Monday as his condition has not improved. He said that Abheek is recuperating and is on complete bed rest.

Kumar said that his family did not take part in the protest. “We are currently focused on the well-being of our children. We are not aware of any protest and have not taken part in it,” he said.

Kumar is a resident on the ninth floor of the B-6 tower of the housing society. There are a total of 30 towers in the society, each having 20 floors and eight of these towers are still under construction, which include the one where the accident took place.

On Wednesday, the Greater Noida authority issued a notice to Supertech, seeking a reply in three days on why the builder had given possession to the flat buyers without taking the completion certificate/occupancy certificate from the authority.

According to AK Arora, general manager (project), Greater Noida authority, a response from Supertech is yet to be received. “A decision on further action against the builder will be taken on Monday,” he said.

A representative of Supertech refused to comment on the matter.