Residents of Eros Sampoornam in Greater Noida West endured hours without electricity on Friday. The developer allegedly snapped the power supply following protests over a hike in maintenance charges. This outage crippled daily life across the 21-tower condominium, which houses nearly 1,768 flats.
Essential Services Grind to a Halt
The power cut disrupted water supply and stalled lifts. It caused particular hardship for children, the elderly, and residents with medical needs. Families described a complete breakdown of essential services within the complex.
Residents Allege Deliberate Action
Residents claimed the outage was deliberate. It came after a large number of occupants refused to pay the revised maintenance fee. They had demanded a clear justification for the increase. The power cut triggered fresh protests inside the complex. Residents accused the developer of using essential services to pressure them into accepting the higher charges.
Dipankar Kumar, the AOA president, said repeated visits to the Greater Noida Authority and police failed to restore services quickly. "Power was disconnected on Friday, leading to a complete breakdown," he stated. "Water supply stopped, lifts shut down, and several residents were briefly trapped."
Developer Cites Technical Fault and Financial Strain
The developer, Eros Group, presented a different account. Alakshendra Singh, head of corporate communications, blamed a technical fault for the power disruption. He said the developer had been managing maintenance since 2017 at a rate of Rs 1.95 per square foot.
Singh explained that charges had not been revised for nine years. This was despite a clause allowing an annual 8% increase. The company refrained from hiking fees during the Covid pandemic on humanitarian grounds. An attempt to raise maintenance to Rs 2.5 per square foot in 2022 was withdrawn after resident protests.
Recent Notices and Limited Generator Use
Recently, the developer issued advance notices. These warned that services would be difficult to sustain without a fee revision. Singh said that on Friday, security and housekeeping services were withdrawn. Diesel generator sets were restricted to operating lifts only.
According to the developer, a technical fault at the power distribution company around 2 pm led to the electricity disruption. With DG sets running in a limited manner, residents faced a prolonged outage. This situation sparked the protests. Singh said DG supply resumed around 9 pm after administrative intervention. The discom restored regular power by Saturday morning.
Authority Intervenes, Services Restored
Following numerous complaints, the Greater Noida Industrial Development Authority stepped in. GNIDA directed the developer not to discontinue basic services. The Authority stated that no essential facilities should be stopped until proper discussions were held.
GNIDA has scheduled a meeting between residents and the developer to resolve the ongoing dispute. Subsequently, officials confirmed that all services have now been restored to the society.
