Concrete chunk falls off roof in Noida flat, builder blames homeowner
In a close-shave for an eight-year-old girl, a concrete chunk fell off the roof of a Noida flat on Monday. Although she wasn't hurt in the incident but the girl was left traumatised by what happened, her mother claimed.
The homeowner and a Supreme Court lawyer, Richa Srivastava, said that she had gone to a nearby market around noon when she received a frantic call from her daughter saying that the roof had fallen. "When I rushed home, I found my daughter crying inconsolably. The debris had missed her, otherwise it could have been fatal," Richa told India TV.
Her husband, Deepak, was away at work in Gurgaon at the time.
The incident took place in Ajnara Daffodils society of Sector-137 Noida. According to the homeowner, the builder's response to the incident has been 'appalling'. First the maintenance team did not respond, then they dismissed it as a routine wear and tear, and now the builder has resorted to sexist comments, she said.
Richa claimed that the project incharge at Ajnara Sunil Pathak, who visited their house after the incident had been apologetic, and changed his tune after it was reported in media. In a phone call recorded by Richa on Tuesday, Pathak can be heard saying that she should have stayed quite when he and her husband were talking, and that he had visited their house out of 'sympathy' and it was not his duty to do so.
Sunil Pathak was unavailable for comment despite repeated efforts.
The maintainance team on site said that the plaster on the roof fell because it was unsually thick, the homeowner claimed. 
Ajnara denies claims of faulty construction
The builder has reportedly denied charges of faulty construction and has blamed the wood work undertaken by the homeowners for cracks in the roof and subsequent damage. Pathak, in his call with Richa, told her that his company was not be blamed for the damages as they should have reported the cracks in their ceiling in time and further claimed that the cracks were caused by the wood work undertaken by the homeowners when they bought the flat.
He further claimed that the homeowners had refused to let their team collect samples of the debris for lab testing to judge the quality of material used in the flat. All these allegations were denied by the homeowner.
Initially denied by Sector 144 police station, the homeowners have registered their complaint at the Surajpur police station. "A general diary has been lodged under IPC Section 427 (mischief). We will deliberate whether an FIR should be lodged or not,” Manoj Pant, the SHO of Surajpur police station, said.
Not the first incident in Ajnara Daffodils
According to the vice president of the Apartment Owners' Association, Alok Pandey, this was not the first such incident in Ajnara Daffodils. Another homeowner Richa Mishra had sustain injuries on Tuesday while trying to fix her curtains as the rode came off along with a chunk of concrete from her house's wall. In another house, an AC vent had recently collapsed after the fixture gave-in, Pandey said, adding that his own AC had fallen off the wall when they first moved in two years ago.
"We have frequently registered these complaints and have taken matters to Noida Authority during our meeting with the COO, but in vain," he added.