india

Updated: Apr 22, 2019 08:09 IST

Unhappy with poor maintenance of the society, a group of residents in Uniworld Garden II, Sohna Road, staged a peaceful protest in front of the corporate office of Unitech Limited at Signature Tower between 11am and 2pm on Saturday.

The residents waited two hours for Unitech executives to invite them for a talk to address their grievance against the poor condition of the external wall and the plaster that keeps falling off and needs repair, as well as other issues.

Joginder Singh, president of the residents’ welfare association (RWA) of the condominium, said, “The builder sent bouncers outside to close the gates to halt our entry. They started threatening us, we were forced to call up the police. With their intervention, we were called inside for a meeting. We have been called for a meeting with the chairman of the Unitech Group, Ramesh Chandra, on Monday. We only protested after a series of follow ups with the town planning department to help us for the repair of buildings that are degenerating after only four years of possession.”

The residential society of Uniworld Garden II consists of 16 high-rise towers and about 900 flats spanning across four blocks. Unitech Limited had offered possession to residents between 2015 and 2016; however, while 11 of the total 16 towers still have no occupation certificates (OCs), four towers have no fire NOCs yet.

As per the rule prescribed by the Town and Country Planning (TCP) Haryana, a builder cannot offer possession to flat owners without OCs— a mandatory certificate that the department issues when it is convinced that units are fit to be occupied.

According to the residents, in August last year, a huge chunk of plaster fell twice from three balconies of the seventh and ninth floors. Following that, the district town planning department, Gurugram, had asked the developer to repair all buildings. “The builder has done nothing. There are no OCs for 11 towers and no fire NOCs for four towers yet,” Vivek Bansal, a resident, said.

Naresh Kumar, assistant sub inspector, said, “Residents called us after they were not allowed inside the office.” After a repeated calls and messages, the Hindustan Times elicited no response from Unitech Limited.

Sudhir Chauhan, senior town planner, Gurugram, said, “I am not aware of the issue; however, I will seek a status report from my staff, as a builder cannot offer possession without OCs.”