Gurugram: Panel to conduct structural audit of 60 high-rises yet to be constituted

GURUGRAM: Residents of 60 highrise societies located along the Dwarka Expressway and Southern Peripheral Road will have to wait for more time for the structural audit of their projects as the district administration is yet to constitute a panel of experts for the same. The deadline for the panel’s formation lapsed on July 20.

Soon after the Chintels Paradiso incident, where a cave-in of flats killed two residents on February 10, the department of town and country planning (DTCP) had shortlisted five highrise societies — Raheja Vedanta in Sector 108, Raheja Atharva in Sector 109, Brisk Lumbini in Sector 109, M3M Woodshire in Sector 107 and Mahindra Aura in Sector 110A — for a structural audit by IIT-Roorkee.

But after the premier institute refused to carry out the structural audit of these societies, citing legal complications, the district administration invited expressions of interest (EOIs) from companies to form the expert for the audit.

Sources told TOI that around 20 companies had expressed their interest in being the panel members, and their applications and other related documents have been sent to the departments concerned for scrutiny. The last date for submitting applications was July 12.

As per the terms of audit, the panel will have to determine the quality of construction and the root cause for structural defects and seepage. Also the panel will have to ascertain if the buildings are structurally safe for habitation or can be made safe after undertaking some measures.

Deputy commissioner Nishant Yadav said, “The panel will be constituted in the next few days after which the process of audit will begin.”

In the past two years, the district administration has received complaints from these 60 societies over poor construction and structural issues. These complaints have been divided into moderate, severe and critical. Some of these societies include .When contacted, district town planner (enforcement) Amit Madholia said the department will finalise the panel within the next few days. “In the first phase, we will conduct a visual inspection of 20 residential societies whose conditions are perceived as critical,” he said.