Gurugram: Give us a proper place to stay, say residents of Chintels Paradiso tower

GURUGRAM: Residents of Tower D of Chintels Paradiso, where living rooms of five floors came crashing down on the first storey, on Sunday demanded rehabilitation and Rs 50,000 for each of the 36 families with homes in the tower that they cannot go back to.

The residents have been staying with their friends or relatives since February 10, when the floors caved in. On Sunday, the flat owners gheraoed an official of developer Chintels who visited Paradiso in the morning. They alleged the company was turning a blind eye towards them even after the deaths of two residents in the collapse.

Pooja Agrawal, who lives in Tower D, said, “My children are staying with their grandmother. They are in shock and don’t want to come back home. We are helpless because we have nowhere to go. We have been staying with our friends in another flat.”

Sanjana Ahuja, whose flat is on the 16th floor, regretted the family’s decision to spend crores on their home. “On Friday, police allowed us to enter the building for a while and collect whatever little we could. The entire building is cloaked in darkness and the ceiling plasters are coming off. We don’t know whether we will have a home at all,” she said.

Hem Mishra’s 11-year-old son has had a fever for a couple of days. “We made a big mistake by choosing to buy a flat here. We have been spending sleepless nights ever since the collapse,” he said.

The 36 families who lived in Tower D have been shifted to unsold flats in the project. But these flats are hardly liveable and do not even have the basic amenities, they alleged. “We are being made to stay in flats that are filled with dirt, broken tiles and defunct taps. How are we supposed to sleep in this chilly weather in the absence of any bedding? We have spent crores to buy a flat here. Tell me, is this worth living?” asked Vikram Gambhir, pointing to the thick coat of dust on the floor.

Additional chief secretary Devender Singh, who visited Paradiso with officials from the department of town and country planning, assured strict action against the developer.

Anchal Ahuja, manager (operations) at Chintels India Pvt Ltd, said, “We have already expressed complete support in every possible way. Whatever is needed will be done. This is a tragedy that nobody could foresee and we regret that it happened. The management will do everything that’s needed to get things right. All these will take some time as we have to wait for government instructions on how we can proceed further.”