A resident of Paras Tierea society in Noida’s Sector 137 has complained to the police that the apartment owners’ association (AOA) has been allegedly harassing his family for being a witness to an incident wherein an elderly woman had died after the lift in the society allegedly went into a free fall in August last year.
He also alleged that he has been asked to vacate the premises immediately and is being charged ₹10,000 for maintenance daily;his electricity connection has also been disrupted, the resident said.
On August 3, last year, 73-year-old Sushila Devi, a resident of Paras Tierea society, had taken the lift in Tower 24 to go from her residence on the eighth floor to the second floor, when the lift allegedly malfunctioned and plummeted to the ground, leading to the woman’s death. Following the incident, a complaint was registered against three maintenance agency officials, four AOA members, and the lift manufacturing company. That case is still going on.
Nishith Tiwari is one of the police witnesses in the case and is a resident of the same tower where the incident took place. He claimed that he is being targeted by the AOA as he is the only tenant among the 24-odd witnesses and the remaining are all flat owners. He said he received a notice on December 17 that he should vacate his flat by December 18, for violation of the society’s tenant policy.
“The notice mentioned that it was the third and final notice, whereas it was the first time that I had received any such notice. I spoke to the AOA and told them that I will anyway be leaving within a few months and have plans to shift in my own house soon and they agreed. However, after that, they disconnected my electricity on December 21 and the maintenance charges now amount to ₹1.20 lakh, which is over ₹10,000 daily. They are saying that I have violated the tenant policy, and I should give a written apology for WhatsApp messages that I have sent on the society group,” said Tiwari.
He added that after a complaint to the police and their intervention, his electricity was restored. However, it is disconnected every few hours, which amounts to harassment of his entire family.
“My wife and son are constantly at the society office to charge her phone; my daughter is mostly with neighbours and I have sent my mother to my sister’s house in Delhi as she has health issues. Police have asked the AOA to restore our electricity on humanitarian ground, but they can’t register an FIR. Now the maintenance office is saying that our electricity will be disconnected every hour when the app refreshes,” said Tiwari.
AOA members, on the other hand, said the resident has been asked to vacate as he was allegedly sending derogatory messages to the society group, spoiling the ”environment of the society”.
“This resident has been making false claims about the AOA filling their pockets, whereas AOA members only use their personal time for the society’s benefit. Such behaviour is clearly against the tenant policy and the flat owner has also been informed about this. This is anyway an internal matter of the society, and we can take required action. It is a false allegation that this is because of the lift incident — we did not even know that he is one of the witnesses,” said colonel Ramesh Gautam, Paras Tierea AOA president.
Vineet Rana, SHO of Sector 142 police station, said, “The resident’s electricity was restored earlier but the police cannot intervene further in society related issues that pertain to the Noida authority. “