Three officials of Ajnara group were booked after a portion of the ceiling at a 19th floor Ajnara Homes flat fell on a seven-year-old boy on Wednesday morning. The boy was taken to a hospital and doctors said his CT scan has not revealed any major head injury.
According to a complaint filed by the child’s father, the incident took place around 9am when the child was playing at a corner of their bedroom in their Bisrakh house. His parents were in the living room. “Suddenly, we heard the sound of plaster falling, followed by the scream of my son. Luckily, he was not sitting under the fan. But some debris fell on his head,” said the boy’s father Siddharth Jaiswal, who works in an IT firm.
Jaiswal rushed him to Vrindavan Hospital where he is getting treated for swelling on the forehead.
Jaiswal filed a complaint against the builders who have been booked under IPC sections 337 (causing hurt by act endangering life or personal safety of others), 427 (mischief causing damage) and 288 (negligent conduct with respect to pulling down or repairing buildings).
Harish Chander, DCP, central Noida, said, “It seems that the ceiling could not hold the plaster, possibly due to moisture. A forensic team was sent to examine the condition of the walls. Necessary action will be taken.” Three officials of Ajnara group, including the project manager, have been booked.
The family stays in a flat at Tower J of Ajnara Homes. The society has 15 towers and 2,200 flats, of which around 70% are occupied currently.
Other residents have alleged that similar incidents have occurred in the past as well.
Pradeep Bansal, a resident of the society, told TOI that several such accidents were reported last year. “Last year, plaster from ceiling fell in the same tower. In tower N, the outer wall of an apartment could not hold an AC duct and fell along with it. In another tower, a sliding door and its frame had come off from the wall. We have been flagging the issue of poor quality of construction material used for many months now. We hope that this accident alerts some people from the administration and they take some action,” he said.
Asked about the incidents, Aditya Agarwal, general manager (construction), Ajnara Homes, said: “We have started repairing the damaged roof and will take care of the losses. We have also sent a show-cause notice to the contractor. We will make sure that such incidents do not happen in other flats.”
