The death of a 72-year-old woman who was trapped inside a lift that went into free fall in a Noida residential society has led to louder demands for mandatory rules not just for the installation protocol but also maintenance of elevators. As per a LocalCircles survey, 58% of those who have lifts in their society say they or someone in their family has gotten stuck in a lift once or more in the last three years. Around 76% of the respondents want the government to bring mandatory standards for lift maintenance.
“A total of 13,333 people living in buildings with lifts responded to the query, with 58% sharing that they or people close to them have undergone such experience once or more times in the last three years. The data shows that 31% knew of or have had such an experience once or twice in the last three years; 11% have had such experience 3-5 times; 11% knew of or have had such experience 6-9 times; 1% responded to say such mishaps have happened to them or people close to them more than 10 times,” the survey report said.
To the question “How are the lifts in your residential building (society or house) maintained?”, of the 13,954 people who responded, 46% indicated that the lift was being maintained by the manufacturer; 42% shared that it was being maintained by third party contractor; 7% claimed it was maintained by the society staff/other miscellaneous staff and 5% claimed that no one maintains it but people are called as and when required.
Around 76% of 14,973 respondents were in favour of the government making mandatory standards for lift maintenance.
The survey received over 42,000 responses from citizens located in 329 districts of India. Around 61% respondents were men, while 39% were women. Around 47% respondents were from tier 1, 36% were from tier 2 and 17% respondents were from tier 3, 4 and rural districts, LocalCircles said.
“For the last couple of years elevator or lift makers in India have been lobbying for a uniform Lift Act across the country that ensures minimum safety standards and specifications in the vertical transportation industry. Though the Indian Standards on lifts have been in existence for many years (the current series of Lift Standards was published in the years 1999 to 2001), typically the Indian Standards are voluntary in nature, according to a report published by Elevator World,” the survey report said.
“Some states like Kerala, Tami Nadu, Karnataka, Jharkhand and Haryana, have incorporated clauses in their respective Lift Act and Lift Rules making compliance to the latest Indian Standards on the Lifts and Escalators compulsory… However, the country lacks mandatory standards for maintenance of lifts thereby leaving the safety of lifts in the hands of society or property managers, AOA functionaries, lift owners, untrained staff in societies and third-party lift maintenance contractors.”
Following the death of the senior citizen in Noida, police booked German elevator manufacturer ThyssenKrupp, a maintenance firm as well as office-bearers of the residents’ association of Paras Tierra Society in Sector 137 under Indian Penal Code sections 287 (negligent conduct with respect to machinery) and 304A (causing death by negligence).
Sushila Devi, 72, was alone in the lift which did not hit the ground but was caught between some of the middle floors of the building before getting stuck on the 25th floor. Officials said the incident took place around 4:30pm but police were informed about it only after 7 pm, and she had died by then.
After the incident on Thursday, several residents of the society gathered in the common areas of the housing complex to protest the lack of maintenance of facilities and demanded that the office-bearers of the residents’ association resign immediately.
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