Chintels to pay 10 families living in unsafe towers to vacate in Gurguram

The developer of Chintels Paradiso condominium in Gurugram’s Sector 109 has agreed to pay the ten families still residing in two of the unsafe towers money to vacate the flats, people familiar with the matter said on Thursday.

The families were refusing to vacate Towers G and H, which are among five slated for demolition, until they were paid “shifting charges” to move to another accommodation along with advance rent, so the developer agreed to their demand on Thursday to get them to vacate the towers as soon as possible.

The development comes after three balconies located in another tower of the condominium collapsed on Sunday evening — the same tower which partially collapsed last year, resulting in the death of two women.

On February 10, 2022, two women were killed after Tower D partially collapsed from the sixth floor downwards. DTCP then ordered a structural audit of the entire complex, which comprises nine towers. According to the report submitted by the experts from Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi, five of the nine towers were declared unsafe and will be demolished by the developer.

These five towers are Towers D, E, F, G, and H. They have 288 flats, which have been vacated; however, ten families at present are putting up in Towers G and H, which they will have to vacate soon, according to the district administration.

According to people in the know of the matter, the developer will pay the ten families residing in Towers G and H a one-time charge of ₹40,000 to vacate the flats and shift to alternative accommodation along with a rent of ₹10 per square feet for six months.

The families had demanded a one-time shifting charge of ₹70,000 and advance rent at the rate of ₹15 per square feet for six months, and time till January 15 to vacate the apartments in case they are unable to find alternative accommodation, a flat owner privy to the matter said.

“We have offered to pay a one-time shifting charge of ₹40,000,” said JN Yadav, vice president, Chintels India Ltd. He added that they are also planning to pay homeowners that have opted for reconstruction rent from the date when approvals are received from the state government for fresh construction.

The developer on Thursday also wrote a letter to the district administration and sought police protection to barricade the unsafe towers.On Tuesday, some residents had not allowed the developer to barricade unsafe areas.

“The towers are unsafe and we have too get the unsafe areas barricaded at the earliest. We have also asked the district administration to provide us police protection for carrying out the barricading as on Tuesday when our workers tried to barricade the phase one, they stopped from doing their job,” Yadav said.

A flat owner with knowledge of the matter confirmed that the developer has proposed to pay rent to owners and shifting charges. “Things are slowly moving in the right direction and it is likely that issues will be resolved soon,” he said, asking not to be named.