Gurgaon: A school student escaped by a matter of seconds on Thursday morning after a balcony at a premium residential society in Sector 37C collapsed, sending heavy chunks of concrete crashing onto the driveway moments after the child had walked past to board a school bus.The incident at Imperia Esfera Phase II has intensified concerns over the structural safety of high-rise housing projects, with residents demanding an independent audit of the entire complex and alleging that repeated complaints about construction quality went unaddressed.It was around 6.15am that the balcony of flat E-204 on the second floor of Tower E gave way. Concrete debris was scattered across the area near parked vehicles, but no one was injured. Residents, however, pointed out that children use the same stretch every morning to reach their school buses.Officials said the exact cause of the collapse will be known only after a structural audit and technical examination. Authorities have not yet concluded whether it resulted from construction defects, deterioration, repair failure or any other structural issue.Residents alleged that Tower E, a 19-storey building, is only partially occupied as construction and finishing work remain incomplete. They claimed many buyers have already paid nearly 90% of the apartment cost but are still waiting for promised amenities and completion of pending works. No one lived in the flat whose balcony collapsed.Hemant Kumar, RWA president, said repeated complaints to the developer and representations to DTCP had failed to yield corrective action.Imperia Structures Ltd said the flat had not been handed over yet and remained in the company’s possession. According to the developer, the balcony was already under repair and prolonged rainfall caused water seepage into the weakened portion, leading to the collapse. It said the matter was being examined and repairs were underway.An FIR was registered at Sector 10A police station against builder-directors Vijender Batra and Harpinder Batra, maintenance agency CEO Amritpal Singh and another maintenance official under sections 125 (act endangering life or personal safety of others) and 318(4) (cheating) of BNS. Police said the allegations by residents would be examined during investigation.DTCP has now asked the developer to conduct, at its own cost, a structural audit of Tower E through one of four empanelled structural engineers within 15 days. District town planner (enforcement) Amit Madholia also ordered inspection and repair of every balcony in the tower, besides rectifying cracks and plaster defects before reconstructing the collapsed portion.Residents, however, said limiting the audit to one tower was inadequate and demanded that the exercise cover the entire project.The collapse comes days after plaster fell from the basement ceiling of BPTP Amstoria in Sector 102, damaging a parked car, and weeks after a biker was killed in Noida when a chunk of concrete fell on him.
