GreNo West: A fire broke out in a flat on the 17th floor of Vedantam Society in Gaur City 2, Sector 16C on Diwali, October 24, 2022. As per information gathered, no harm to human life has been reported,but there has been a loss of property. As per reports, the fire tenders reached the spot after an hour of delay which caused aggression in residents of the society.
Residents are now demanding a thorough investigation into this matter. Annu Khan, President of NEFOMA and a resident of Vedantam Society says,
"FIR has been filed, the director of the society was in the police station the day after the incident happened. As of right now, no one has been charged in connection with the fire that destroyed a home and left the family with nothing more than the clothes they were wearing at the time. It is also unknown whether they will be given a new apartment or not, or what steps will be taken moving forward."
Kanhaiya Verma, President, of Vedantam Social Welfare Society, says,
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"The builders received the temporary occupation certificate in 2018, but they also lacked the Fire NOC at that time. The builders promised to give the Fire NOC to the authority within 90 days, but when they failed to do so, the authority revoked the temporary occupation certificate."
He adds, "We moved to Vedantam, giving up some of the basic amenities, in the hopes that the builder would soon set everything up for the society's residents. However, the builder didn't finish his work."
He also adds that in the society, several lifts are not working. There is no facility of fire safety equipment in any of the towers of the society. The society houses about 450 families.
Kanhaiya Verma also claims that despite visiting Bisrakh Thana repeatedly, the police did nothing to take action against the builder.
Kamlesh Sharma, whose house burnt in this incident says,
"Police is doing the investigation, they took pictures for the report, and the forensic team also reached for evidence collection. We are awaiting judgment from the court, and I sincerely hope the builder will assist with the recovery."
Additionally, he says that the society's residents want a fire system in society. He informs that the fire spread to three flats, destroying all of his possessions as well as also destroying half of his neighbouring flats, 1804 and 1904.
Sunil Kumar Singh, resident of flat number 1804, says,
"If only there were fire extinguishers in place, the fire could have been controlled. However, because there were none, the fire made its way to my apartment. Even the fire tenders arrived after an hour, the fire was virtually out of control, my flat was just upside 1704, and every accessory, electrical appliance was burnt."
A.K. Sharma, another resident of the society says,
"I have been constantly vocal regarding something drastic coming our way due to the shear negligence of the builders and the maintenance team's blatant incompetence, and here we are. Such a high price some of my fellow residents had to bear."
Umesh Kumar Singh, another resident of the society says,
"The builder is not the only one at fault here, the authority is at fault as well. Nobody from the authority showed up to investigate about what had taken place. The authority provided a plot to the builder to build a residential community, but what did they do to ensure our safety?"
