Extended FAR Construction Causes Gas Pipeline Breakage in Dwarka
If the government really wants to protect the Delhi citizens, it must publicly announce that the extended construction activity under FAR rules is not permitted in occupied cooperative group housing societies.
By Rakesh Raman
As the illegal extended construction activity under the government’s dubious FAR (floor area ratio) rules is spreading like a wildfire in Delhi, residents are facing extreme risks in group housing societies.
The residents of R. D. Apartments in Sector 6 of Dwarka in New Delhi were horrified when the combustible natural gas pipes broke today as a result of the haphazard excavation that is happening in the Society building as part of the FAR building extension.
Residents inform that the accident happened today (July 31) at around 3:00 p.m. when the gas pipes of IGL (Indraprastha Gas Limited) in the building broke. Although the Delhi Police and IGL officials reached the scene of the accident, no loss of life or property is reported so far.
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The residents of the R. D. Apartments told RMN News Service that they have been repeatedly urging the managing committee (MC) of the Society that it should not start the extended construction activity because it will be harmful for people living in the Society. However, the MC ignored their requests and started the dangerous construction work about 2 weeks ago.
These residents have also approached various government departments to get the extended construction activity stopped. But all their requests have fallen on deaf ears.
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As a result of FAR-based construction, many innocent residents of Dwarka / Delhi – including children, men, women, including senior citizens – are spending sleepless nights because they are not able to deal with the corrupt MCs of their societies which are hell-bent to make Delhi a veritable hell with avoidable construction and resulting dust and noise pollution.
As the extended construction will cause severe environmental hazard with dust and noise pollution in the Society buildings, it will also deprive the residents of their fundamental human right to live in a pollution-free environment guaranteed in the Constitution of India by way of Article 21.
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The extended construction under the garb of FAR rules also contravenes the observations of the National Green Tribunal (NGT) of India. NGT observes that one of the major sources of air pollution is dust emission from construction activities, which must be stopped to avoid pollution-related diseases and deaths.
The extended construction activity will also be a blatant attack on the environment-protection policies of the Government of India, as the government is committed to protect the environment in order to minimize the adverse effects of Climate Change.
The MCs of housing societies must realize that no activity can be legal if it poses a risk to even one person’s life. The truth is that the extended construction-related pollution and possible accidents will put to risk the lives of hundreds of people living in the Society buildings.
If the government really wants to protect the Delhi citizens, it must publicly announce that the extended construction activity under FAR rules is not permitted in occupied cooperative group housing societies.
By Rakesh Raman, who is a government’s National award-winning journalist. He had been associated with the United Nations (UN) through United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) as a digital media expert to help businesses use technology for brand marketing and business development. He also runs a free school for deserving children under his NGO – RMN Foundation.
