Mohali, April 30 -- Almost half of the dwellers at the Sushma Valencia housing complex in Zirakpur having 700 residential units - nearly 600 of which were occupied till one and a half months ago - have shifted lock, stock and barrel as the developers allegedly went incommunicado, abandoning the maintenance work in mid-March. Residents said the disappearance of the building plunged the complex into a crisis with a large number of residential units sans electricity meters who have to pay up to Rs.45 per unit for drawing power through diesel generators. Residents said five or six families are leaving the complex daily due to the worsening living conditions. "Security staff members have been reduced from 18 to just three," they said. Faresh Kaushal, a resident of the complex, said dwellers were trying to get their resident welfare association (RWA) registered to manage the society. "We collect an emergency fund of Rs.10,000 per month from each resident to ensure essential services, like electricity, water and sewage. Since mid-March, the builders' maintenance setup has been out of reach. Many residents have already paid compulsory maintenance charges till 2027," he said. Kaushal, who has been looking after the essential services of the complex since the builders' "disappearance", said that out of the 600 occupied residential units (including tenants), more than half vacated due to electricity and water scarcity. Only 100-110 households have access to agricultural connections, while the rest rely entirely on diesel generators whose daily life is now dictated by erratic power supply windows - 2 pm to 4 pm, 7.30 pm to 1.30 am and 5 am to 9.30 am, he said, adding that an outage of 11.30 hours is enforced everyday. Pointing to the rising financial burden, residents said that amid 40degCelsius temperature, the cost they are paying for electricity, which was nearly Rs.7 per unit, nowadays amounts to nearly Rs.45 per unit after the builders' absence as earlier the generator rent, operation and maintenance were being looked after by the housing complex. The daily expenditure on diesel and operations ranges between Rs.1 lakh and Rs.2.5 lakh. This is expected to rise beyond Rs.3-3.5 lakh per day once generator rental dues, pending with the builders, are factored in, residents said. Kaushal said, "All three generators are on rent. Their annual maintenance, along with lift maintenance costs, has not been paid. Water supply has also been severely impacted because it depends entirely on generators. There is no direct municipal connection." A resident recalled that an elderly man, who recently suffered a heart attack, had to be carried on shoulders because the lifts were non-functional due to no electricity. Notices have been posted inside the buildings to highlight that lifts operate only between 6-9 am and 8 pm-12:30 am, aligned with the generator schedule. Residents said a delegation on Tuesday met Punjab chief minister's joint secretary, who assured of necessary action. According to residents, they settled here between 2021 and 2023 and the cost of the flats here has risen up to Rs.1 crore. When contacted, Mandeep Kumar, PSPCL's executive engineer of the Zirakpur distribution division, said, "According to the provisions of the Electricity Act, 2003, a permanent electricity connection cannot be granted until the developers obtain a no objection certificate from the PSPCL and ensure compliance with statutory requirements." A few officials, wishing not to be named, said that when the builders applied for an NOC earlier this year, discrepancies emerged regarding land ownership. The original buyer was listed as Shipra Estates Limited, followed by a memorandum of understanding between Suksha Developers Pvt. Ltd, part of the Sushma Group, developed the Valencia project. Suksha's licence, which expired in 2023, was never renewed. The builders were informed of the requirements for securing the NOC, but compliance is pending. The matter has now been referred to the Punjab State Electricity Regulatory Commission, which was notified on April 2. Under regulatory provisions, if no response is received within a stipulated period, typically three months, the utility may initiate proceedings to take over the project under the "abandoned" category to safeguard consumer interest, an official said. Efforts were made to reach estate officer Varun Kumar from the Greater Mohali Area Development Authority (GMADA) to know how occupancy certificates were issued without permanent electricity connections, but he was unavailable for comment. GMADA chief administrator Sakshi Sawhney was yet to respond on the issue. Attempts to contact the owners of the Sushma Group for a response were unsuccessful. Even messages sent to them elicited no response....