The Supreme Court on Thursday upheld the Kancheepuram Collector’s order to demolish the 11-storey structure remaining on the site of a building collapse at Moulivakkam in Chennai.
Sixty-one people, mostly construction workers from Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Odisha, were killed in the accident which followed a downpour on June 28, 2014.
A Bench led by Justice Dipak Misra ordered the demolition after perusing a report submitted by a three-member committee, which visited the site and inspected the stability of the existing structure of the Prime Sristi Housing Private Limited project.
Design deficiencies
In a negative report, the panel gave its conclusion that “keeping in view the significant under-designing and major design deficiencies, the ideal solution will be demolition of the structure. Any lateral load like earthquake, strong wind, etc. is likely to result in a catastrophic situation.”
The report said “the structural design of the building is so grossly inadequate that it can never be used for housing/habitation.”
The committee comprised Dr. Shashank Bisnoi, assistant professor, Indian Institute of New Delhi, senior advocate Ashok Gupta and L.P. Singh, general manager (Structure), National Building Construction Ltd.
