Chennai building collapse: Authorities inspect multi-storeyed buildings

A litigation was filed today against appointment of one man enquiry commission to analyse, concieve and submit report

The Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority-appointed team has started inspecting the safety and quality issues of around 700 multi-storeyed buildings in the city.

According to the CMDA sources, the authority has constituted 19 special teams to inspect the multi-storeyed buildings in the city.

These teams, comprising 54 officials, inspected around 20 buildings on Thursday . They found some discrepancies in the column sizes and construction norms.

These inspections are expected to take 30-40 days to complete, requiring a large share of the manpower of the authority, which is already facing a shortage of staff.

While the big builders are continuously monitored and are under stringent scrutiny, unorganised small builders are not looked at as a serious threat so far, say experts.

“Structural quality assurance of a construction is still a largely self-regulatory process in India, especially in high profile projects where the builder engages the services of reputed project managers and consultants while the less organised builder rarely follows any regulation,” said Sanjay Dutt, executive managing director- South Asia, Cushman & Wakefield.

The state government also has appointed a single-member inquiry commission to look into the building norms and suggest steps for non-recurrence of building collapses in the future.

An 11-storeyed building, under construction in Moulivakkam, in Chennai, collapsed from the basement on June 28, claiming lives of around 60 people, mostly workers from other states. The rescue works are in the final stage, and is expected to be completed today.