'Don't throw us out': NBCC Green View residents in Gurugram are in tears

‘Don’t throw us out’: NBCC Green View residents in Gurugram are in tears

GURUGRAM: Anirudh Kaushik (38) had started to design a room in his flat to welcome their first child. With his wife Stuti in the eighth month of her pregnancy, he had already booked a bed in a hospital not far from home. When everything seemed to be in order, the government notice arrived. All 140 families at NBCC Green View had to vacate their flats. They had just 12 days. The deadline was March 1.

“We have been left in the middle of nowhere. In a meeting with government officials on Wednesday, I was told that my problem was personal. Why are they talking like an NBCC spokesperson? How can I shift my wife in this advanced stage of pregnancy? If something happens to her, who will take responsibility?” asked a distraught Anirudh, an assistant professor at a private college.

Several other families at the Sector 37D society, which has been declare unsafe to live in because of structural damage, were in tears. Sujata (38), who lives in an EWS (economically weaker sections) house at the condominium and makes a living providing tiffin services, lashed out at the sudden notice to pack up and leave. “I am a single mother. Where will I take my children? Is this how the government is helping the poor?” she asked.

The decision to evacuate Green View, built by public sector developer NBCC and handed over to buyers 2017 onwards, was taken by deputy commissioner Nishant Yadav after a meeting on Wednesday with officials of the town and country planning department, NBCC and around 50 residents of the condominium. Convened in the backdrop of the cave-in at Chintels Paradiso that led to the death of two residents, it was decided at the meeting that NBCC would provide other accommodations to Green View residents or pay rents for those who find their own alternatives. Residents were also given an exit option in which NBCC would give a full refund along with interest.

An IIT-Delhi team that assessed Green View last year after cracks and other construction problems were noticed by residents recommended evacuation of the complex. NBCC has commissioned another audit before it decides whether the flats can be repaired.
But the 12-day timeline to move out has unnerved the residents, among them several senior citizens. G Mohanty, who is 67 years old, doesn’t know how he can make the shift to another house within this period. He stays in Green View with his wife and his sons are abroad. “I had invested my savings in this flat, where I wanted to lead a retired life. The eviction notice is a shocker to all of us. The administration is saying they will provide us a refund. But what is their plan? Is there any plan for alternative housing as well?” he asked.

Rashmi Gupta, who has been living in Green View for the past four years, asked, “Can NBCC’s own officials vacate their houses in just two weeks if they are asked to?”

Those with children in schools are worried about their scheduled exams. “My kids are in classes VI and VII. Their exams are starting on February 23. We urged NBCC to get us a flat in BPTP. It has been over 24 hours, but they are yet to respond,” said Meena Gupta, a resident.

Manisha, a tailor, and her husband, an auto-rickshaw driver, had just started to recover from the losses incurred during the lockdown. “We are poor people who have survived by cleaning the houses of others. When we heard about EWS flats, we were hopeful of a house of our own. Are poor people not supposed to live in peace?” asked a sobbing Manisha. Around 100 people live in the society’s EWS houses, whose structure tests were under way when this correspondent visited on Thursday. “We will not leave our houses like this, come what may. We will stage a protest soon,” said Sujata.