Outdated lifts ring alarm bells for residents of Eastend Apartments
Welcome To CitySpidey

Location

Outdated lifts ring alarm bells for residents of Eastend Apartments

Residents are worried after executive member of management committee warns over lifts’ condition on a society forum. Committee plans to seek Rs 25,000-30,000 from every household for replacing the lifts.

Outdated lifts ring alarm bells for residents of Eastend Apartments

Is it safe to use the lifts of the buildings? Should we take the stairs instead? These questions have become the talking point for residents of Eastend Apartments at Mayur Vihar Phase I Extension in East Delhi.

The commotion was triggered when K Pasupathy, an executive member of the society’s managing committee, opined on a society forum that the lifts were highly unsafe. He wrote that since he lives on the ground floor, he does not use the lifts, and could only pray for the others. He warned other residents that the lifts were not only old and worn out, but also beyond their warranty period.

Residents said that buttons of the lifts did not work properly and incidents of lifts stopping midway were nothing new. The lifts were installed in the society 25 years ago and the manufacturer discontinued the model over time. There are 58 lifts in the society, with two in each of the 29 multistorey towers. There has been a series of patchwork on the lifts, as the spare parts are not available in the market now. Unavailability of spare parts has also become a hindrance in servicing the lifts.

BB Chaudhary, in charge of maintenance of the society, told City Spidey, “There has been a rise in the number of complaints about lifts in the past one year. The management committee wants to replace the old lifts. Those currently in use are outdated and their spare parts are not available in the market.”

But Chaudhary added that changing the lifts is not an easy task, as modern elevator systems are costly and the management committee is facing a paucity of funds. He said that they require Rs 25,000 to Rs 30,000 from every household to replace the lifts.

Dr BS Saraswat, vice-president of the management committee, said, “The proposal for new lifts has been drafted for the next general body meeting. Once the proposal is passed by the general body, we will approach residents with our requirements."

Given the circumstances, residents are facing the dilemma of either using the same old lifts or giving thousands of rupees for their replacement. Rakesh Sinha, a resident, said, “New lifts are indeed an immediate requirement but giving Rs 25,000 to Rs 30,000 in one go is certainly not easy.”

Dr Saraswat told City Spidey, “The maintenance fee of about Rs 1,700 to Rs 1,900 that we collect is used in expenditures such as security and for a recent structural reinforcement carried out in the society. We are not collecting the entire amount from the residents. The money that is likely to be collected will still fall short of the total amount needed.”

Thirteen hundred and six households use the lifts and are in a state of panic over their poor condition.