The Centre for Urbanisation Buildings and Environment (CUBE), which was engaged to assess the quality of construction of the tenements built by the Tamil Nadu Urban Habitat Development Board (TNUHDB) at Kesava Pillai Park, has submitted its report, running to 441 pages, on Monday.
The content or key findings of the report were not made public. However, sources in the Housing and Urban Development Department said PST Engineering Construction, the private contractor who constructed the buildings, would be asked to fix the issues in construction raised by the committee. “The private contractor is liable to fix these issues as the building is within the shrinkage period of five years,” an official said.
While the report is believed to have found lapses in the construction work, officials did not confirm if any action on the officials or the contractor had been recommended. “The report has made observations on the issues in the construction. We will decide on further action soon,” another official from the department said.
A committee involving members of CUBE, an organisation formed in collaboration between IIT Madras and the Government of Tamil Nadu, was engaged to assess the quality of the building following complaints of poor quality of construction, particularly with the plastering work, a few months ago.
The committee was constituted in the third week of August. It was initially expected to submit a report within three to four weeks. Minister for Rural Industries T.M. Anbarasan, who is also handling the TNUHDB portfolio, said in the Assembly on September 1 that the committee would submit its report in two weeks.
However, TNUHDB officials said CUBE asked for an extension. Soon after the complaints emerged, the TNUHDB had suspended two Assistant Engineers involved in quality control.
