Moulivakkam tragedy was a wake-up call for developers

C Shivakumar

Chennai:

A partially constructed 11-storey building which has been certified as
unsafe stands testimony to one of the worst building tragedy the city
has witnessed a year ago with the loss of more than 60 lives.



A year has passed since the tragedy happened but the scars still
remain even as Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority is trying to
amend development regulations and ensure that such sort of incidents
don’t happen.



CREDAI’s national chairman for Best Practices T Chitty Babu said that
the incident was a wake-up call for developers as well as authorities.



“It resulted in responsibilities being fixed on every individual be it
builder, developer, buyer or regulator. The whole system got
tightened,” said Babu.



Sources said that now Chennai Metropolitan Development  Authority is
insisting on vetting of the structural design either  by Anna
University or Structural Engineering Research Centre or IIT, Madras
before sanctioning planning permission.



It is also learnt that CMDA has resolved to include representative
from Public works department as one of the member in Multi-storied
building panel meeting. “We are awaiting the orders from the
government in this regard,” said a official.



CMDA is also trying to take the lessons from other Indian  cities in
regulating the developments. Sources revealed that the planning body
is studying the report furnished by five study teams who were deputed
to major cities like Bangaluru, Hyderabad, Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata
post-Moulivakkam to study the procedures followed in cities in
regulating the development. The report is being discussed with CREDAI
and the government



Meanwhile, the report of the enquiry commission to look into all
aspects relating to collapse of the building at Moulivakkam is likely
to be tabled during the forthcoming assembly session.



This comes after attorney general informed the government about the
assurance given to Madras High Court of tabling the report before the
assembly.



However, the demolition of Block A of Prime Shristi Housing is yet to
be carried out. The demolition of Block A of Prime Shristi Housing
could not be carried out as High court quashed the proceedings of the
collector as well as district magistrate. However, it has not passed
any orders against the demolition.



“The district collector has requested the government for suitable
direction to proceed further,” sources added.