Concrete chunk falls off roof in Noida flat, builder blames homeowner
In a close-shave for an eight-year-old girl, a concrete chunk fell off the roof of a Noida flat on Monday. Although she wasn't hurt in the incident but the girl was left traumatised by what happened, her mother claimed.
The homeowner and a Supreme Court lawyer, Richa Srivastava, said that she had gone to a nearby market around noon when she received a frantic call from her daughter saying that the roof had fallen. "When I rushed home, I found my daughter crying inconsolably. The debris had missed her, otherwise it could have been fatal," Richa told India TV.
Her husband, Deepak, was away at work in Gurgaon at the time.
The maintainance team on site said that the plaster on the roof fell because it was unsually thick, the homeowner claimed.
The incident took place in Ajnara Daffodils society of Sector-137 Noida. According to the homeowner, the builder's response to the incident has been 'appalling'. First the maintenance team did not respond, then they dismissed it as a routine wear and tear, and now the builder has resorted to concocting excuses, she said.
Initially denied by Sector 144 police station, the homeowners have registered their complaint at the Surajpur police station. "A general diary has been lodged under IPC Section 427 (mischief). We will deliberate whether an FIR should be lodged or not,” Manoj Pant, the SHO of Surajpur police station, said. Police have sought a report from the builder on the status of homeowner's complaint.
Not the first incident in Ajnara Daffodils
According to the vice president of the Apartment Owners' Association, Alok Pandey, this was not the first such incident in Ajnara Daffodils. Another homeowner Richa Mishra had sustain injuries on Tuesday while trying to fix her curtains as the rode came off along with a chunk of concrete from her house's wall. In another house, an AC vent had recently collapsed after the fixture gave-in, Pandey said, adding that his own AC had fallen off the wall when they first moved in two years ago.
"We have frequently registered these complaints and have taken matters to Noida Authority during our meeting with the COO, but in vain," he added.
Ajnara denies claims of faulty construction
The builder denied charges of faulty construction and blamed the homeowners for not reporting the cracks in the roof. Ajnara Project incharge Sunil Pathak said that his company was not to be blamed for the damages as the family should have reported the cracks in their ceiling in time. Pathak said a host of reasons, including woodwork undertaken by homeowners and undergoing construction in the flat one level up could be the cause of the damage, but the construction was not faulty.
Talking to India TV, the Ajnara official said that he will send the samples collected from the debris for a technical analyses to judge the quality of material used in the construction, as requested by the flat owners.
Furthermore, Pathak denied the claims of that the previous complaints by homeowners have fallen on deaf ears. This is the first construction related complaint we have ever received and we responded immediately, no other flat owner has informed us of any other problem before this, he said, adding that the roof of the flat in question has been fixed.
