Infuriated residents approach DTCP with 20 plaints against builders

Gurugram: Thousands of residents living in newly developed residential apartments in Gurugram have lodged a complaint with the Department of Town and Country Planning against the builders for using poor quality construction material.

Since 2019, there are 20 such complaints that are pending against residential projects like Raheja's Atharva and Vedanta society, Ireo Victory Valley and ILD Greens. Most of these projects are less than 10 years old and residents have alleged that their homes have developed deep cracks and there is regular falling of plaster in addition to a host of other issues related to poor construction.

Residents in these societies have even claimed that some of their members have even got hurt because of the poor-quality material being used for construction. More than 3,500 residents living in these buildings are adversely impacted by the poor quality of construction. Residents have now even begun posting images of their apartments on social media.

Most of the angry residents claim that the builders continue to take advantage of the pandemic by increasing maintenance charges but not using that money to provide better services. Even in the times of COVID-19, most residents have not shied away from coming out on the streets and protesting against the erring builders.

"The builders are able to get away with it because there is no action taken against the government agencies. Most of these residential societies are not even 10 years old and have developed deep cracks on the wall and one now also fears about the safety," said Manish Parekh, a resident of Raheja Atharva.

Most of the cash-strapped builders have outsourced their work to maintenance agencies to reduce their costs.