Gurugram’s Chintels Paradiso towers to be vacated: Timeline of collapse case

Over a year after the tragic Chintels Paradiso residential tower collapse incident in Gurugram that claimed two lives, the district administration on Monday asked residents to vacate Towers E and F within 15 days, months after the two towers were declared unsafe.

Chairman of District Disaster Management Authority Nishant Kumar Yadav issued the order under sections of the disaster management act and section 144 (prohibiting the gathering of four or more people in a specified area) of CrPc.

This comes after the administration’s earlier directions to vacate the premises located in Gurugram’s Sector 109 by February 15, which went unheeded.

Chintels Paradiso collapse: A timeline of events

1) On February 10 last year, six floors of Tower D of Chintels Paradiso apartment, developed by Realty firm Chintels India Limited, partially collapsed during renovations at a sixth-floor flat, killing two women.

2) Following the incident, a criminal case was filed by the Haryana government against the developer. Additionally, a district-level investigation was launched into the matter, which revealed structural flaws and quality issues in the construction of the towers, responsible for the accident.

3) Two months after the incident, in April, at least 188 homeowners of the complex moved to the Supreme Court, seeking justice, compensation, an independent structural audit and a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) monitored probe.

4) A structural audit of the building carried out by a three-member Indian Institute of Technology-Delhi (IIT-D) committee, revealed in its September report that the structure deteriorated faster than expected, despite the fact that it had only been occupied for nearly just five years. In November, based on the report from the IIT-Delhi, the district administration declared the entire tower D unsafe and recommended that it be demolished.

5) At present, the CBI is probing the case, after its taking over it in December last year. On January 18, the agency booked Ashok Soloman, managing director of the group, under 304-A (culpable homicide not amounting to murder), cheating, causing grievous hurt and other sections. Prior to this, the CBI had arrested Mohammad Khalid Moin, a professor at Jamia Millia Islamia (JMI), who allegedly issued structural stability certificates in March last year itself.

6) A subsequent audit of Towers E and F of the complex also revealed design flaws and the structures were declared unfit for human habitation.

7) In April, the company proposed to buy back the flats, said it would repair and reconstruct them, and promised to give possession within 36 months as part of their “final offer”. Following a meeting with all the stakeholders in the matter, the members were offered two choices, either a full repayment of their flat cost, at the present-day valuation, or to have the property rebuilt by the developers in three years. However, not all residents were happy with the options and had raised their concerns.

8) The latest development in the case follows the administration’s order to vacate flats, deemed unsafe for living. The district town planner (enforcement) has been tasked to carry out the order.