CMDA to file report on collapse of 11-storied building

C Shivakumar/ENS

Chennai:

Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority will be filing a report to
the state government on the collapse of a 11-storied under
construction high rise building at Moulivakkam near Porur that killed five people and injured 20 others. 

CMDA sources said a team is at the site collecting sample of the construction material used and a report would be submitted to the government.

The collapse of the building has sparked a controversy on whether the building was structurally sound and whether soil tests were conducted before the building sprang up.

Interestingly, CMDA officials have washed their hands stating that their job is only to sanction plans and it is the duty of structural engineer to give a certificate whether the building is sound or not.

But High Court appointed monitoring committee member M G Deivasahayam says that had CMDA accepted the recommendations of the committee then such sort of accidents wouldn’t have happened.

Deivasahayam said that the monitoring committee has recommended that architect of the building be made responsible for the structural defect. “We have suggested the international best practices where
architect should be filing continous reports about the state ofconstruction as well as whether there are any structural defects in the building. Based on these reports, CMDA should be giving the completion certificate,” he said. However, these recommendations never saw the light of the day, Deivasahayam said.

Interestingly, the collapse has also angered activists. Additional
secretary of All India Nirman Mazdoor Panchayat Sangh Geetha
Ramakrishnan questioned the lack of safety measures in the site. She
said the building does not have lightning conductor besides 
questioning the structural stability of the building.  She also
highlighted the plight of unregistered migrant workers who are
ineligible to get immediate relief from the welfare boards.


“When the welfare board is collecting levy, they should register the
migrant workers,” she said.

Interestingly, migrant workers are eligible for compensation under the
Workman’s Compensation Act. But it is a difficult process, she said.
Y Arul Doss of unorganized workers federation said that government has
formed a committee to provide identity cards to the migrant workers.
But it has yet to see the light of the day.