Noida Worse Off in Lift Safety Than National Average, Shows Survey as Elevator Crash Toll Rises to 8

As the death toll from the crash of a service lift at an under-construction society in Noida Extension mounted to eight on Saturday evening, a survey revealed that elevator safety in Noida is worse off than the national average with 83% of the respondents saying a family member had got stuck inside a lift in the last three years.

The survey conducted by Local Circles received over 5,000 responses from residents of Noida and Greater Noida who have lifts in their housing society or home. Around 62% respondents were men, while 38% were women.

Around 84% respondents said they or someone close to them got stuck in a lift in the last three years, as compared to the national average of 58%. Around 22% stated that the lift in their housing complex is “maintained by our society staff/other miscellaneous staff” and 7% indicated “no one maintains other than on call in case of issues”.

Around 78% of the respondents believe the government should create mandatory standards for lift maintenance and enforcement.

“The country lacks mandatory standards for maintenance of lifts and most states do not have a state lift act to enforce standards, 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,” the survey report said.

“An inspector from the state department is supposed to certify new lifts and also certifies existing lifts as fit for operation. However, like most state licenses or Government certifications, the process per collective feedback, many a times involves corruption and bribery in exchange for ignoring non-compliances,” it added.

A similar survey was conducted by Local Circles last month when 72-year-old woman died after a lift she was trapped inside went into free fall in a Noida residential society.

In the August survey, 58% respondents from across India who have lifts in their society said they or someone in their family had gotten stuck in a lift once or more in the last three years. Around 76% of the respondents had said they want the government to bring mandatory standards for lift maintenance.

In the latest incident, eight workers died after a service lift crashed at an under-construction society in Noida Extension. A financial compensation of Rs 25 lakh each has been issued for families of those killed in the incident.

The lift had nine workers in it when it fell from the 14th floor of an under-construction tower at an Amrapali Dream Valley project site in Noida Extension, also known as Greater Noida (West), on Friday morning. The long-stalled project is being completed by the state-run NBCC under the monitoring of the Supreme Court.

An FIR was lodged on Friday at the local Bisrakh Police Station and nine people, including officials of NBCC, were booked for negligence and culpable homicide, among others, in connection with the case, police said.

The district administration and the local Greater Noida Authority have also launched investigations.