Exclusive : 484 Families staring at Disaster in dilapidated DLF Carlton Estate in India
- Vineet Malik
- Jun 19, 2022
- 12 min read
Updated: Nov 30, 2024
By Vineet Malik | June 19, 2022 | London, England
Corroded iron beams, falling concrete, damp roof with seepage at more than 15 scary water dripping sites on the basement roof, broken balconies, corroded melting faucets, flooding bath rooms depicts the rotting condition of DLF Carlton Estate, a residential skyscraper located in the millennium city of Gurgaon in India
Developer washed its Hands off Six Years Back
Several e mails sent by Carlton Estate residents to DLF Ltd. with a request to undertake building repair work were ignored.
Ex Vice president DLF Ltd. Virendra Kumar Gupta in 2016 issued a statement “DLF Ltd. had already given possession of Carlton Estate to the residents in 2014 and now cannot conduct repair work.”
Carlton Estate Residents left in a lurch by the Developer
According to a circular shared by Carlton Estate Condominium Association (CECA), “DLF Ltd. was approached to seek its technical help and even offered to pay for repair work of the broken balconies however after conducting the survey, the developer did not show any interest in helping out the residents.”
CECA management shared with the residents in August last year that most of the contractors and consultants including DLF Ltd. did not want to take up repairing work of Carlton Estate citing technical difficulties, financial constraints and danger to human life.
Building Renovation Fund collected by CECA from Carlton Estate Residents
CECA management has been collecting funds from the residents at the rate of Rs. 1 per sq. ft. now increased to Rs.1.5 per sq. ft on monthly basis. For instance, if the area of the apartment is 1398 sq. ft., the payable amount comes out to be 1398 x 1 = Rs.1398.
Ravi Tripathi (name changed on request), a resident says “There are also residents in Carlton Estate who have been dying from cancer but do not have money to arrange funds to get themselves treated. Amount charged for maintenance, electricity are on a higher side. Never ending building repair work, lifts replacement charges, recarpetting of roads, spare parts for power back up and other miscleneous recurring charges have become a preoccupation for the residents. It is known to one and all how this developer has been running this society and other societies by planting its own employees by proxy to fleece the residents for life time."
Thrice, I woke up to the House Flooding and it all started in the Washrooms
Ananya Sinha, another resident (name changed on request) says “The plumbing is so bad in Carlton Estate. One faucet broke and my bathroom was flooded. Later, the extracted valve and faucet looked completely melted due to rust. How can this happen ? People pay millions to buy these apartments built by developers. Plumbing in this house cannot be touched in this apartment without something breaking or falling apart.”
First news story highlighted the grave concern in 2016
Second news story was published in 2020
CECA Management Misled Carlton Estate Residents by releasing a Circular dated 31 May 2022
CECA is governed by President Pawan Tharwani, Vice President Manju Bhargava, Secretary Arun Verma, Joint Secretary Sudarshan Kumar Sachdeva and Treasurer Ritabrata Pramanik.
Scrutiny of CECA Circular
Narayan Kumar (name changed on request), a resident says “Why isn’t CECA management getting an independent structural audit of Carlton Estate done ? The construction of Carlton Estate has been substandard ever since the building was handed over to the residents in 2003 whereas, wear and tear cannot be the sole reason for damaged caused to the building over last many years. Complaints pertaining to poor construction work were made to the Vice Chairman DLF Ltd. Rajiv Singh however the developer turned a blind eye.
Former CECA Treasurer Ibrahim Ahmad addressed a mail to the residents on 9 July 2017 about conducting the repair work of Carlton Estate IV basement roof. The residents instead condemned Ahmad and other board members for getting shoddy repair work done as the water leakage from the basement roof still persisted.
Looking at the condition of the cracks on the basement roof, it appears the construction is so poor that the damaged spots just cannot be permanently repaired. How can damaged, rusted water collection metal trays hanging below the roof can cause frequent water seepage ? Sealing of building expansion joints running all across the basement cannot be the only cause of cracks and water leakage. Looking at the gory pictures, it is evident that the roof isn’t specifically damaged where the expansion joints are located. The damaged spots are spread all over the basement roof. This seems to be a money making racket aimed at yet again wasting the residents money on shoddy construction repair work. The conduct of present CECA management is akin to a wolf in a sheep’s clothing. added Narayan”
DLF Ltd. call it Quits, its Ex-Employee bags sensitive Building Repair Work contract to contravene mandatory Guidelines issued by National Disaster Management Association (NDMA) led by PM Narendra Modi
CECA management in December last year released a circular and introduced Ajay Arora to the residents as an ex Sr. Vice President Projects with DLF Ltd. The circular said "Ajay Arora was a key Civil Engineer in building Carlton Estate. He would be one of the best technical person to advise on corrective measures to be undertaken for safeguard and further deterioration, said a circular issued by CECA on 24 December 2021."
Arora’s profile on social media says “Senior Vice President with a demonstrated history of achievements in the real estate industry. Skilled in handling start to end working at projects taking care of all the streams. Finished more than 10 mega projects of DLF Ltd. in total tenure of 31 years. Strong professional with an Engineer’s degree focused on civil engineering from the National Institute of Technology, Kurukshetra.”
The task of balconies repair work is assigned to Arora’s – KTECH Buildcon Pvt. Ltd., a seven months old Co.
Arora has given seven years guarantee to the residents for balconies repair work. So far, the costing of basement repair work and its guarantee still remains to be elusive from the residents.
An expert Civil Engineer says “Balconies can never be repaired as these are Reinforced Cement Concrete (RCC) cantilevers. Only cosmetic repairs can be carried out. Carlton Estate as a structure has an approximate life of 50 years however, given its dismal condition, to reach 50 years will be asking for something extraordinary.”
Shyamal Rastogi (name changed on request) says “The image of Carlton Estate has been scandalous. The maintenance has been running by the CECA office staff and supporters of the mafia developer who all these years refused to undertake repair work.”
What after 7 Years ?
Manish Bahl (name changed on request), a resident says “What will happen after seven years ? For how long, the residents will keep on paying money for the building repair work ?
Who constructed DLF Carlton Estate ?
Carlton Estate was constructed by Bhayana Builders Pvt. Ltd. promoted by Nitin Bhayana and Vikas Bhayana.
Contractor who constructed Chintels Paradiso and Carlton Estate is One and the Same
Bhayana Builders Pvt. Ltd. along with Ashok Solomon, director of Chintels Developers were booked by the Gurgaon Police for causing death by negligence in February this year in a mishap where, sixth to first floor roof collapsed in Chintels Paradiso, Sector 109, Gurgaon.
Tower D affected by the collapsed floors was later sealed.
Chintels Pradiso residents alleged that their repeated complaints were ignored for four years by the government authorities including the police and consequently that all the more led to deterioration of the structure of the building. Also, despite poor construction of the building, the structural audit of the building came out to be positive.
The incident led to the tragic death of two residents and several others sustained severe injuries.
188 Residents of Chintels Paradiso moved Supreme Court in a Petition filed by Class 11 Student who lost his Mother in the Mishap
Shaken and tormented Chintels Paradiso residents were left with no other option than to move SC in April with a plea named as ‘Death Trap’ as there was no sight of relief from the government authorities. The developer was not taken to task with no consideration on compensation, independent structural audit and rehabilitation according to news reported by electronic and print media.
Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar’s commitment for a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe only remained on paper.
Justices KM Joseph and Hrishikesh Roy in late February sought response from the department of Town and Country Planning, Chintels Paradiso, Bhayana Developers and State Police. The notice stated “We are issuing a notice to ensure if there is any wrongdoing in the real estate industry, it can be taken care of.”
The matter is still pending in the SC for final adjudication.
National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA)
The NDMA, headed by the Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi is the apex body for disaster management in India. It strives to promote a national resolve to mitigate the damage and destruction caused by natural and man-made disasters through sustained and collective efforts of all government agencies.
The said organisation in 2014 declared that residential high-rise did not conform
to Earthquake Safety Standards and recommended certain norms on seismic retrofitting.
It further said “Across urban India, most multi-storied buildings are made of Reinforced Cement composite material made of cement concrete embedded with small diameter steel reinforcement bars. Such buildings on stilts (that does not have an apartment on the ground floor but an open car parking) did not conform to prevalent Indian Standards for earthquake safety.
NDMA prepared such guidelines by seeking technical expertise from the Indian Institutes of Technologies (IITs), state governments and ministries.
The Vice Chairman NDMA in 2011 raised a red flag for such visible residential structures that were built in urban cities.
Director - Haryana Center for Disaster Management Letter addressed to Town and Country Planning in 2016
The Center for Disaster Management of the Haryana Institute of Public Administration (HIPA), Director S P Gupta in 2016 wrote a letter to the Haryana Town and Country Planning department to conduct mandatory structural audit of all buildings. The decision was made in lieu of repeated occurrence of seismic activity in the South Asian Region. A compliance report was also sought in this regard. Gurgaon falls in high-risk seismic zone IV making it highly vulnerable for earthquakes.
Carlton Estate Residents repeated requests to implement Retrofitting Ignored for Years
Rajiv Sahajpal (name changed on request), a resident says “Both, the previous and present CECA management headed by Sachin Jain and Pawan Tharwani ignored the residents repeated plea to get Retrofitting implemented in Carlton Estate.
India can't afford to ignore disaster management, a news story was published by dailymail.co.uk in 2015.
Retrofit existing buildings to make them safer : Centre for Science and Environment
Executive Director of Research and Advocacy, a New Delhi based non-profit Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), Anumita Roychowdhury way back in 2015 emphasised on the systemic issues that led to construction of unsafe buildings in sensitive seismic zones vulnerable for earthquakes and elsewhere in India. While new building codes can apply to new buildings, there is also a need to retrofit existing buildings to make them safer.
Aman Bajaj (name changed on request) says "Will DLF, its contractor Bhayana Builders Pvt. Ltd. along with Ajay Arora and others be punished for constructing a building that is in shambles ?
Will PM Modi as the head of NDMA look into this matter ? Will Gurgaon Police wait for people to die before taking any action against the errant developer and its accomplices ?
An Attempt made to Intimidate a Journalist
Advocate Akhil Aggarwal (Akhil Law Associates) boasts of a Bachelor of Laws (LLB) attained from Delhi University, Master of Economics from TERI School of Advanced Studies and schooling from Delhi Public School, R.K Puram and Faridabad on social media.
First attempt to silence The Revelation
Last year, under the Editors’ Code of Practice, in a response sought from CECA management prior to publication of news stories by the Revelation, Gurgaon based Advocate Aggarwal sent a legal notice to the Author, demanded to remove defamatory news stories from the Revelation news website, abstain from publishing more stories in future and asked to pay one million for causing loss of reputation and goodwill of CECA management and further intimidated to initiate civil and criminal proceedings in the court of law if all such conditions were not met.
Second attempt to silence The Revelation
Few days back, President CECA sent a mail to the Author with a stern warning to not publish anything defamatory against CECA or any CECA board members or else CECA management will be constrained to initiate legal proceedings in the court of law.
Lawyer is an Officer of the Court and not a Mouthpiece of his Client
In a Supreme Court judgment titled Lal Bahadur Gautam Vs. State of U.P and others
in 2019, a bench headed by Justices Arun Mishra and Navin Sinha stated “A lawyer’s failure in duty is a wrong against the justice delivery system in India. Over the years, the responsibility and care shown in by lawyers have been on the decline. The counsel are duty bound to double check and verify facts before making any presentation to the court. A lawyer demeans if he acts merely as a mouthpiece of his client. As a responsible officer of the Court and an important adjunct of the administration of justice, the lawyer undoubtedly owes a duty to the Court as well to the opposite side.”
In a Supreme Court judgment titled H.P. Scheduled Tribes Employees Federation & ANR. Vs. Himachal Pradesh S.V.K.K. & Ors in 2013, a bench headed by Justices Surinder Singh Nijjar and Pinaki Chandra Ghose stated
Lord Denning : "An Advocate is a Minister of Justice equally with the Judge who owes allegiance to a higher cause of truth and justice."
“When a statement is made before this Court it is, as a matter of course, assumed that it is made sincerely and is not an effort to over-reach the Court. Numerous matters even involving momentous questions of law are very often disposed of by this Court on the basis of the statement made by the learned counsel for the parties. The statement is accepted as it is assumed without doubt, to be honest, sincere, truthful, solemn and in the interest of justice. The statement by the counsel is not expected to be flippant, mischievous, misleading and certainly not false. This confidence in statements made by the learned counsel is founded on the assumption that the counsel is aware that he is an officer of the Court. Here we would like to allude to the words of Lord Denning, in the case of Rendel vs. Worsley about the conduct expected of an Advocate. "As an advocate, he is a minister of justice equally with the Judge. I say "all he honourably can" because his duty is not only to his client. He has a duty to the Court which is paramount. It is a mistake to suppose that he is the mouthpiece of his client to say what he wants: or his tool to do what he directs. He is none of these things. He owes allegiance to a higher cause. It is the cause of truth and justice. He must not consciously mis-state the facts. He must not knowingly conceal the truth. He must not unjustly make a charge of fraud, that is, without evidence to support it. He must produce all the relevant authorities, even those that are against him. He must see that his client discloses, if ordered, the relevant documents, even those that are fatal to his case. He must disregard the most specific instructions of his client, if they conflicts with his duty to the court. The code which requires a Barrister to do all this is not a code of law. It is the code of honour." In our opinion, the aforesaid dicta of Lord Denning is an apt exposition of the very high standard of moral, ethical and professional conduct expected to be maintained by members of the legal profession.”
Misconduct and Punishment of Advocates in India
Section 35 of Advocates Act, 1961 deals with the Misconduct and Punishment of Advocates, where on receipt of a complaint or otherwise a State Bar Council have a reason to believe that any advocate on its roll have been guilty of professional or other misconduct, it shall refer the case for disposal to its disciplinary committee.
Former Central Information Commissioner to Bar Council of Delhi : Report/Publish Cases of Professional Misconduct of Lawyers both proved and non-proved, at regular intervals
Former Central Information Commissioner, Delhi, Professor M. Sridhar Acharyulu (Madabhushi Sridhar) in the matter of Tapan Chaudhary Vs Bar Council of Delhi in 2016 stated “People or clients have a right to know the conduct of their counsel, whom they are paying fees with an expectation for justice. The Commission agrees with the justifiable contention of the appellant and directs the Bar Council of Delhi to report/publish the cases of professional misconduct, both proved and non-proved, at regular intervals.”
Supreme Court : Media should not succumb to Pressures, Harassment and Intimidation
Former Supreme Court Judge, Justice RM Lodha while presenting the ‘International Press Institute Award’ to a journalist in 2018 said “Any perception that watchdog journalism is being replaced by guard-dog journalism is not good for democracy at all. Media should be critical all the time and should have the ability to preserve plurality of views. To serve the public’s right to know, journalists must sometimes act like ‘attack dogs’ in exposing their pursuit of exposing unscrupulous public servants, unethical, immoral and illegal behaviour of government officials, politicians, institutions and private individuals. When the press asks tough questions of those in authority, considers issues of public importance in different light and ensures that our country’s core values are upheld, everyone benefits. Its important for the media not to succumb to pressures, harassment and intimidation. Independent judiciary and independent media are the heart and soul of constitutional democracy.”
India’s Press Freedom continue to Nose Dive
India's press freedom ranking fell from 142 in 2021 to 150 this year, its lowest ever out of 180 countries, according to global media watchdog Reporters Without Borders (RSF), which published its 2022 World Press Freedom Index (WPFI) in May this year.
Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) two months back called for Indian Government to end attacks on the Press.
Bhayana Builders Pvt. Ltd. Directors Nitin Bhayana and Vikas Bhayana and KTECH Buildcon Pvt. Ltd. Director Ajay Arora did not respond to the questions asked by the Revelation pertaining to their accountability.
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