‘Punished for buying a house’: No respite in sight for Chintels buyers as 7th tower declared unsafe

“If the builder knew the material used was corrosive, why would he sell the flats despite an incident? We saved our income and invested in the house. And when it was time to finally start building a life here, this happened,” says Kundu.

For over two years now, buyers of Chintels Paradiso flats have been going through a range of emotions — stress, anger, panic — as one tower after the other was declared unsafe for habitation. Tower C is the seventh tower, out of nine on the premises, to have been declared unsafe.

The two options extended by the builder have not gone down well with the buyers who feel shortchanged, keeping in mind the current property rates.

The first option is reconstruction wherein Rs 1,000 per square foot is paid by the residents for having their flats reconstructed after a demolition that is yet to take off. The second option is a settlement as part of which the builder will pay Rs 6,500 per sq ft to the buyers, reimburse the actual stamp duty paid by the flat owners, and reimburse the renovation cost as evaluated by the independent evaluators appointed by the government.

A few years ago, Jasmine Kaur had purchased a flat in the society; this apartment was the same one where she was staying on rent. Last year, she had to move out after her tower — Tower G —was declared unsafe.

“We are paying an EMI of Rs 40,000 for the loan we took to purchase the flat and a rent of Rs 44,000 for the current flat (situated in Sector 109). Plus, my husband was transferred to Odisha where he has to pay rent as well,” she says.

The situation is not exactly ideal for residents of “safe”

towers either.

“The builder is dictating the options before us as they want a settlement on their terms. Those living here cannot avail 60% of the green area apart from the mini golf course; badminton, basketball and tennis courts; skating rinks; and the cricket pitch. We are only left with a club now,” says society’s RWA president and resident of Tower A, Rakesh Hooda. “There is no way out as there are no buyers for flats (64 each) even in the ‘safe’ (A and B) towers.”

What latest report said

The recent report from the CBRI stated: “In view of the high chloride content in the structure and owing to the large number of failures of structural elements considering corrosion (obtained in the structural analysis and design results as per IS Standards), the safe demolition of TOWER C is advisable…”
In the two-and-a-half years following the collapse at Tower D in February 2022, six towers —D, E, F, G, H and J — were found unfit by IIT-Delhi in its audit reports, resulting in the Deputy Commissioner ordering residents to vacate soon.

On January 4, the Supreme Court said that the residents who opted for reconstruction shall be entitled to a fixed rent by the developer for an alternate accommodation.

“It has been eight months and we are yet to get a timeline… The builder has said the rent would be provided when the reconstruction starts,” said Hooda, adding an arbitrary and uniform system of compensation and settlement cannot work as the towers have different specifications.

“We will hand over our keys, but we need a timeline. Residents of the last five vacated towers have not been able to avail any rent. The government should first think of rehabilitation before passing orders.”

A Chintels spokesperson said, “We are in the process of evaluating the options… Reconstruction can only begin once all the approvals are in place and when demolition is complete.”

Kaur, the former resident of Tower G, said reconstruction does not seem to be in sight. “The demolition has been at a standstill for long. We have to pay the price for amending a mistake the builder committed; we are being punished for buying a house,” she said.