Noida: Noida Authority has asked the developer of Antriksh Golf View-II, which is 15 years old, to conduct a structural audit of the society within a month after an inspection found exposed reinforcement bars and seepage-damaged beams in several towers.In a letter addressed to the developer, Colourful Estate Pvt Ltd, the Authority has asked for an audit by one of the eight empanelled institutions: Delhi Technical University; IIT Kanpur; MNIT Allahabad; BITS Pilani; AMU Aligarh; MNIT Jaipur; CBRI Roorkee; or IIT Delhi.It has also ordered that routine repair work be completed within two months. “If the prescribed repair work is not completed within the deadline and an untoward incident occurs at the site, the developer will bear full responsibility,” read the letter. The Authority has also warned that action will be initiated under the terms of the lease deed.The move comes two months after residents of the Sector 78 society staged protests wearing helmets over falling plaster in the complex.TOI reported in June that residents of the society were wearing helmets within the premises after a series of incidents. The immediate trigger for the protest was a large chunk of plaster crashing onto a parked car, narrowly missing a couple walking nearby. By that weekend, children were cycling through the complex wearing helmets, residents were stepping out for evening walks with their heads covered and some were choosing basement passages instead of open pathways.The residents’ anxiety had already been heightened by the death of 46-year-old Vikas Chawla at Arihant Amber in Greater Noida West. Chawla was riding his motorcycle inside the society when a concrete chunk fell on him, causing him to lose control and suffer fatal head injuries.Their plight had brought the structural condition of the complex under formal scrutiny. The Authority’s planning department inspected the society on June 18. The inspection report noted that plaster had come off the walls of several towers, exposing reinforcement bars and brick masonry in beams beneath balcony slabs. Reinforcement bars were also found exposed at several locations in basement beams and ceilings. At some places, the Authority observed that the exposed reinforcement appeared to have been temporarily concealed.The inspection also found seepage from basement columns and beams, resulting in dampness at multiple locations. The Authority said this raised the possibility that the structure may have weakened, which made a third-party structural audit necessary.
