Poor maintenance of societies in Ggn shows its fatal consequences

Gurugram: The death of Gurugram resident Swati Garg has again brought to the fore the issue of poor maintenance of condominium societies, which could have fatal consequences for its residents.

In the wee hours of Monday, a massive fire engulfed the B-6 towers of Tulip Orange society due to a short circuit in the electric shaft.

Though this incident turned out to be a major tragedy for the Garg family, as it claimed 32-year-old Swati, there were as many as 50 families in the building who narrowly escaped death.

Subsequently, an FIR was registered against the builder and the facility management company for culpable homicide.

Most cash-strapped builders in Gurugram have outsourced their work to maintenance agencies to reduce their costs.

It has, however, not improved the situation as there are still many complaints that builders refuse to pay maintenance agencies, which are now compromising on the quality of work.

A tipping point has been reached where a facility management agency, on a short notice, has exited from the maintenance of a residential society in New Gururgam.

The problem of poor maintenance is most severely felt in hundreds of societies located in Sohna Road and New Gurugram, which comprise of sectors 81-95.

In an earlier incident, a women had to undergo surgery after a malfunctioning lift fell from the eleventh floor.

Many residents have addressed their concerns to the Haryana Chief Minister through various platforms.

However, being unable to find an effective solution, resident welfare associations (RWAs) have also written to the Prime Minister's Office seeking his intervention.

Over 20 residential societies have formally registered their complaints against the builder with Department of Town and Country Planning (DTCP).

Meanwhile, certain RWAs have taken over the task of maintenance from the builders. The RWAs, moreover, claim that there is no support from the strong builder lobby, which refuses to exempt the residents from paying the heavy maintenance charges.

"There is no denying the fact that most of the builders take us for granted and have not used the large amounts of mone collected from residents towards their welfare. There is a need for the government to intervene and stop the loot. It is sad that the state government, in most of the cases, has been found wanting," said Sudhir Ahuja, a city resident.