A huge slurry-filled crater with four excavators and a crane in its belly and bordered on three sides with shoring piles.
That is all what could be seen on the site sandwiched between Hotel Gokulam and a three-storey furnished apartment at Kaloor on Friday morning where works were progressing on a two-storey deep basement parking of an upcoming 12-floor showroom of a textile major till Thursday night.
Over 500 shoring piles had already been erected when a few of them, around 15 of them according to an employee engaged in the site, erected cheek-by-jowl the main road collapsed.
The employees engaged by the textile company attributed it to the constant throbbing caused by the movement of vehicles along the road and metro trains through pillars by the middle of the road.
They feel it may have loosened up the soil by the side of the road consequently affecting the stability of piles. That shoring piles on all other sides remained intact was also cited to further reinforce that theory.
Cause to be identified
Mining and Geology Department officials who inspected the site confirmed that works were being undertaken with the requisite permission but could not pinpoint the exact cause having a direct link to the collapse. Soil in the area is a mix of sand and clay susceptible to slurry formation with exposure to increased moisture. While some seepage is suspected on the site, officials could not detect any evidence of it.
It was for structural experts to conclude whether the impact of the movement of vehicles and metro trains led to the collapse, officials said.
The incident has left a three-storey furnished apartment, which the textile major had acquired, in a precarious position with its foundations exposed.
The apartment will now be demolished, as was originally planned, according to an employee.
Besides, it has caused concerns over the structural stability of other buildings in the neighbourhood. Meanwhile, the incident has left the Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB) with a precarious balancing act as it was forced to switch off an underground 66kV line to the sub station at North passing beneath the site of collapse. This has affected power supply in multiple electrical sections in the city.
“The line remains switched off since Thursday night and cannot be charged till we receive the necessary clearances. For the time being, we are adjusting with the power from Brahmapuram though even that had to be switched off for around an hour during the day. Supply could be a far graver problem during the peak demand night hours,” a KSEB official said.
It is learned that the textile company was planning to complete the work of the showroom on over one-and-a-half acres by the second half of next year.
The shoring piles that collapsed were completed around six months ago.
