FAR Construction Causes Serious Accidents at DPS Housing Society of Dwarka

While DPS CGHS MC and construction companies are responsible for the accident, Delhi Police is supposed to investigate the cause of the accident and the extent of damage it inflicted on the life and property of the residents.

August 17, 2020

By Rakesh Raman

The ongoing floor area ratio (FAR) construction happening at DPS housing society (DPS CGHS, Dwarka, Sector 4, New Delhi) is causing tragic accidents.

Although FAR construction in occupied housing societies is an illegal activity, the management committee (MC) of DPS CGHS – which is facing a number of government inquiries for its criminal activities – is carrying out the harmful construction that can be fatal for the residents living in the Society building.

A few days ago, a large slab of stone fell from the top where construction is happening on the car of a resident. Since the DPS CGHS MC works in a secretive way to hide its criminal acts, it did not inform other members about this serious accident in the building. Therefore, it is not yet known if some people got injured or there were some fatalities in this accident.

However, as this construction (if not stopped) will continue for the coming many years, there is a possibility of more such accidents and resulting injuries and deaths in DPS CGHS. Obviously, Delhi Police is supposed to investigate the cause of the accident and the extent of damage it inflicted on the life and property of the residents. The police must also catch the culprits behind this reckless act that can kill the residents of DPS CGHS.

The illegal FAR construction at DPS CGHS is also causing many other accidents in the building. Earlier, during FAR construction, the DPS CGHS MC broke the IGL (Indraprastha Gas Limited) gas pipelines in the building which could have led to fatal fire mishap and deaths of residents.

A report filed by IGL stated that the crime of breaking IGL gas pipelines at DPS CGHS can lead to the imprisonment of DPS CGHS MC members. Since these MC members are acting as hardened criminals, they broke the gas pipeline even when IGL had informed them that this can lead to their imprisonment. 

Now, as the coronavirus (Covid-19) infection is spreading in almost every street of Delhi, the FAR construction at DPS CGHS has further increased the risk of disease and fatalities for the residents.

A number of construction workers visit the walled DPS housing society every day to carry out construction work. These workers who come from outside neither wear face masks nor do they observe social-distancing guidelines while working from morning to evening. 

They are also not being tested for coronavirus before allowing them to enter the building. Obviously, they can bring the virus from outside and spread it in the building among the residents. 

Since the DPS CGHS MC is extorting crores of rupees from the residents for this illegal FAR construction project which will run for years in the occupied housing society, it has decided to continue construction while the residents are facing the risk of coronavirus infection from the construction workers.

It is learnt that coronavirus has already infected people in the DPS CGHS building. If the construction is not stopped immediately, coronavirus can also cause deaths in the Society building.

While undertaking the illegal FAR construction activity in the housing society, the DPS CGHS MC is blatantly violating the Epidemic Diseases Act, 1897, which has been enforced across the country from March 2020 in order to limit the spread of coronavirus disease during the Covid-19 pandemic in India.

SAMPATHKUMAR GANG AT DPS CGHS

The DPS CGHS MC has been operating as a criminal gang under the leadership of M.N. Sampathkumar who was the secretary of the Society. Sampathkumar – who claims to be a former employee of Air India – is already facing a number of investigations. 

Although Sampathkumar has quit his position from the MC presumably to evade prosecution, it is being observed that now he is leading the criminal activities secretly at DPS CGHS. 

Another member of Sampathkumar gang (or S-Gang) and a former DPS CGHS president M.M. Shukla – who claims to be a former employee of Indian army – is involved in the criminal activities and forcing each DPS CGHS member to pay lakhs of rupees for illegal construction. Now Shukla is facing a police investigation related to his alleged crimes of corruption, extortion, bribery, criminal intimidation, and so on. 

In response to a complaint against Shukla – sent to Mr. Rajnath Singh, Defence Minister of India, and General Bipin Rawat, Chief of Defence Staff of India – the government has initiated the investigation.

The Ministry of Defence – through its letter dated July 21, 2020 – has directed Delhi Police to start investigation into the purported crimes of Shukla. The investigation is expected to extend to the other members of the gang in which Shukla operates.  

In the property crimes, Sampathkumar gang has been colluding with a number of corrupt officials at Delhi Development Authority (DDA), office of the Registrar Cooperative Societies (RCS) of Delhi Government, Delhi Police, and members of builders’ mafia.

The S-Gang – comprising gang members Sampathkumar, Shukla, Vaish, Bala, Swami, Taneja, Tyagi, Naseem, and Dua – operates from the DPS housing society in Dwarka and it is under a slew of investigations initiated by the government. 

Besides these key members, the S-Gang of Sampathkumar also gets illegal support from other Society members and builders’ mafia to commit construction crimes. The names of Vivek & Arti Architects, Om Star Constructions, Design N Design Architects, Team Professional Consultant, and a few others also appear in the complaints against S-Gang members, as these private players have been working hand in glove with the S-Gang members. The possibility of their links with the other notorious gangs in Delhi or outside Delhi cannot be ruled out.

Threats to Me: In order to intimidate and silence me, Sampathkumar and his gang members (the accused DPS CGHS MC members) and their accomplices are sending multiple threats to me. These include false police complaints against me, threats of physical harm to me, expulsion notices, legal notices, and slanderous attacks on my social as well as professional status. 

I have complained to the Delhi Police, the Home Ministry of the Government of India, and the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) about the threats that I am receiving from the MC members of DPS CGHS and others. In response to my complaints, the NHRC has issued notice to Delhi Police to protect me and my rights as a journalist.

Free Anti-Corruption Service: This report on DPS CGHS is part of our “Clean House” anti-corruption social service, which covers cases of crime and corruption in Delhi’s cooperative group housing societies. 

You can click here to know more about this service.

By Rakesh Raman, who is a national award-winning journalist and social activist. He is the founder of a humanitarian organization RMN Foundation which is working in diverse areas to help the disadvantaged and distressed people in the society. He also creates and publishes a number of digital publications and research reports on different subjects. These publications include the “Covid Health Bulletin” that covers global coronavirus news and views.