Chintels society tower to be demolished

Gurugram: A tower of Chintels Paradiso society in Gurugram, which had partially collapsed in February killing two women, will be demolished, the district administration said on Saturday citing a report of an IIT Delhi team that found structural deficiencies "beyond repair".

Two women were killed after the dining room floor of a sixth-floor apartment of the Tower D at Chintels Paradiso in Sector 109 came down on February 10, triggering the collapse of roofs and floors directly under it, till the first floor. The 18-floor tower has 50 flats.

Gurugram Deputy Commissioner Nishant Kumar Yadav, while sharing the report of the IIT team on Saturday, said the team has found structural deficiencies in the construction of the tower, whose repair is not possible on technical and economic grounds. "Therefore, the entire Tower D of Chintels Paradiso society should be demolished," Yadav said. The deputy commissioner is likely to fix the date of demolition on Monday.

In a statement, the Chintels Paradiso said, "Ever since the unfortunate incident, we have been cooperating with the authorities and also with the affected residents in every possible way and will continue to do so".

The incident had prompted the authorities to conduct a structural audit of several high-rise buildings in the city.

"The repair work was done unmonitored. The steel corroded reinforcements had been painted from the top to hide corrosion. The methodology of repair was also not in accordance with the requisite standard. The sampling of Tower D has found it had high chloride content and the quality of concrete is poor, due to which it is not habitable," DC Yadav said citing the report.

"The report has recommended that Tower D should be permanently closed and the process of its demolition

should be initiated. A detailed order for demolition will be passed most probably on Monday", he added.