A housing society with over 700 flats in Gurugram, constructed by the State-owned NBCC India, will be demolished after it has been declared unsafe for habitation.

Confirming “structural and construction lapses”, Deputy Commissioner of Gurugram Nishant Yadav on Wednesday announced that residents of Sector 37 D-based NBCC Green View society had been asked to vacate by March 1, following a meeting with 140 flat owners and NBCC India officials.

Mr Yadav said that the Union government enterprise would provide alternative accommodation to the residents. It would also provide rent for those willing to move to flats of their choice with the same parameters, he said.

The decision to demolish the society comes days after a portion of a housing complex, named Chintels Paradiso, in Gurugram’s Sector 109 collapsed, leaving two women dead.

“The decision has been taken in the interest of the flat owners and consensus between them and the building authority NBCC. We will oversee the compensation and rehabilitation of the residents,” Mr Yadav said.

NBCC India Chairman and Managing Director P K Gupta said that the company “truly understood the plight of the residents”.

“It is shocking as to how a society of 700-800 flats could deteriorate in four to five years. The IIT Delhi team (which surveyed the building) said it was high chloride levels in water that led to corrosion. After the first inspection, we wanted to get it repaired, but (there was) COVID-19 and then rains led to waterlogging.”

“…when we started, we were shocked at the amount of damage that had happened by then. Even the IIT Delhi team was aghast,” Mr Gupta added.