NEW DELHI: A pregnant woman living in a Delhi Development Authority (DDA) flat in Dwarka had a miraculous escape as her balcony caved in minutes after she left the area. According to the residents, balconies of flat no 174 and 173 at Harmony Apartments in Sector 4 of Dwarka came crashing down around 7.30 pm. The incident has triggered panic among the residents who are now demanding a safety audit of all 250 flats by DDA experts.
Sudhir Kumar, who lives on the ground floor of the ill-fated block, said the residents had complained about structural safety and vulnerable balconies four years ago to the authority but no action was taken.
“My wife, who is six months pregnant, was standing at the same place where the debris fell. Fortunately, she went inside five minutes before the fall. The DDA should arrange a structural safety audit of the apartments immediately. These flats are just 20 years old and each flat costs Rs 1-1.5 crore,” he said.
Kumar further said that the authority should also make provisions for the repair of the damaged dwelling units. “The balcony of the third floor is still hanging dangerously and must be taken care of by the DDA,” he said.
However, an DDA official said, “The SFS houses in Pocket 1, Sector 4 are not under the scheme of 30 years maintenance and the RWA is maintaining them. These flats were constructed in 1997-98. No such complaint was received in the past.” The RWA’s secretary of Harmony Apartments, Arvind Rudra, however, said that the authority should do something to stabilize ‘hanging’ balconies, a faulty design.
“The residents are apprehensive about the design –arched shape balconies with no support—since the beginning. It is clearly a poor architectural design. We had made a complaint to the DDA after the incident. Its officials and people of disaster management and fire department visited the spot but left without saying anything,” said Rudra. He said that after removing debris, the DDA must carry out repairs or compensate the residents.