Building standards under scrutiny after preschooler’s death in Noida highrise

Noida, June 18 : As a 4-year-old child and a 21-year-old youth allegedly died after falling from two separate high-rise buildings here within 24 hours, questions are now being raised that whether these accidents have happened due to negligence in construction standards.

On Friday morning, 4-year-old Akshat died allegedly after he fell off the balcony of an eighth-floor apartment in a high-rise group housing society.

The incident took place at around 6 a.m.at the Hyde Park Society in Sector 78.The parents of the child were asleep when the incident took place.It is being asked why the balcony, where there should have been a grill of one meter (3.28 ft) height, why only a 2.5 ft grill was installed.Also, why was the building not surveyed and checked after its construction?According to experts, under the Noida Authority building bye-laws, there must be a railing of at least 1.25 meters in height on the balcony of high-rise buildings.In the second incident, a 21-year-old college student died after he allegedly fell off the eighth floor of a tower in a posh group housing society in Noida on the same day.The police said they are yet to ascertain whether the student accidentally fell off the building or it was a suicide.The incident took place around 11.15 p.m.on Friday at the Lotus Boulevard Society in Sector 100.In the last several months, many such incidents have been reported in Noida in which people fell from the balcony after being intoxicated.Many children have also lost their lives as the heights of grills are not as per the mandate and the gap is too large.

The authority gives a Completion Certificate (CC) to a builder after verifying whether the construction has been done according to the plan (approved map) sent by the builder.Also, the authority conducts a structure audit of the building.

Although most such accidents in Noida are happening due to falling from the balcony, the safety standards are yet being neglected.Similar incidents:On January 12, 2022, five-year-old Shivam died on the spot after falling from the balcony of a house in Shahberi village of Bisrakh police station area.On November 28, 2021, four-year-old Tavish died after falling from the balcony of the 10th floor of a building at Dasnac Society in Sector-75.

On May 29, 2022, a three-year-old boy died after falling from the balcony of the third floor of Shiv Shakti Apartment in Sector-71.On November 7, 2020, a two-year-old boy died after falling from the balcony of Supertech Eco Village One Society in Greater Noida.

Some such cases also come to the fore in which people died after falling from their balconies under suspicious circumstances.On January 27, 2023, a girl died after falling from the 15th floor of a building at Supertech Cape Town in Sector 74.On February 19, 2022, an 11-year-old girl student died after falling from the 16th floor of a building at Ajnara Grand Society in Sector 74.On November 1, 2021, a woman died after falling from the 17th floor of a building in Sector-75 under suspicious circumstances.On January 1, 2019, a young man who was talking on the phone in the balcony of his flat on the fifth floor fell and died.

People living in high-rise societies need to be very careful in view of such accidents, especially if they have small children in their houses.As a remedy, nets can be installed on the grill or railing of the balcony.

If necessary, the height of the railing can be raised.If you have small children in your house, then it is better not to keep any furniture or flower pots around the railing on the balcony.

At the same time, keep the balcony and entrance door of the flat closed as it is often seen that due to negligence, people forget to shut doors which sometimes invites serious accidents.Town planner and expert Abhinav Singh Chauhan told IANS that whenever a plan for a building or any project is made, first its map is required to be approved by the authority and then after the completion of the construction work, the local authority verifies whether construction has been done as per the approved plan or not.On several occasions, it has been seen that important parameters such as the height of the balcony, stairs, the gap between the doors, and the space around the lift are overlooked during the inspection by the local authorities.Such negligence can become the cause of major accidents in future.pkt/sha/dpb #scrutiny #preschoolers #Noida #highrise.