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Residents suspect use of substandard material behind ceiling collapse

Priya Singh | 2024-01-16

A police team visited the residential society in Sector 134 and received a complaint from residents
Residents said the quality of construction of the towers needs to be assessed in the interest of their safety.
After two consecutive incidents where chunks of concrete from the ceilings of balconies of two towers fell in Jaypee’s Kosmos Society in Sector 134, the residents fear moving around the towers.

Residents said the quality of construction of the towers needs to be assessed in the interest of their safety.(Sunil Ghosh/HT PHOTO)
Residents said the quality of construction of the towers needs to be assessed in the interest of their safety.(Sunil Ghosh/HT PHOTO)
Residents said the quality of construction of the towers needs to be assessed in the interest of their safety. In the first incident that took place on Monday around 9pm, a portion of concrete from a ceiling fell from the 17th floor of Tower 7.
It crashed with a thud and residents were shocked to see the chipped plaster on the ground. A similar incident took place on Tuesday at 7pm when a major portion of the damaged ceiling of the balcony of a flat on the 14th floor in Tower 9 collapsed.

Though no casualty was reported, the residents feel unsafe in these towers.

In Tuesday’s incident, the concrete that came loose was apparently above 100kg. Three guards had to be brought in to remove it from the internal road. Scared and agitated over the incidents, the residents rang up the police control room.

A police team reached the spot and took the cognizance of the matter. They took a written complaint from residents and assured them that it will be forwarded to the Noida authority, who, in turn, will take up the issue with the builders.
There are as many as 650 families living in the society and the total number of residents is around 2, 000. They claimed to have taken possession in April 2015 and started moving in by November 2015.

“I live in tower number 7 and everyone panicked. They feared someone fell from the balcony. It took me two-and-half hours to know what exactly happened. A portion of the building is damaged. This is a serious matter. People invested their hand earned money into this project,” said Gurdeep Singh, another resident.

The matter was also forwarded to the facility management group (FMG) of the society, but no action has been taken as yet.

Naushad Ali, general manager (liason), Jaypee Group, said, “A patch of plaster from the ceiling collapsed. There were no casualties. Our maintenance staff has also visited and ensured the structure is safe.”

Station house officer of Expressway police station, Satish Chandra, said, “I personally cannot intervene in the matter and neither can I assess if sub-standard material was used or not. We have received a complaint from residents and it has been forwarded to senior officers for investigation.”