Panel submits report on building collapse at Kachi Ghati in Shimla

Pratibha Chauhan

Tribune News Service

Shimla, November 25

The three-member fact-finding committee, constituted to look into reasons for the collapse of an eight-storey building in the Kachi Ghati area of the town, today submitted its report, along with recommendations on the larger issue of structural safety and building norms.

Though the committee, with Commissioner, Shimla Municipal Corporation, and Director, Town and Country Planning, as its members, was to submit its report on October 7, it got delayed as expert opinion had to be sought from IIT Roorkee and National Institute of Technology (NIT), Hamirpur.

Unlikely to be placed before Cabinet

• The report is unlikely to be placed before the Cabinet but significant policy decisions with regard to regulating construction activity could be based on it.
• The committee has also thrown light on the possible reasons that could have led to the building collapse.
• It has also given opinion on the issues like safety of four structures adjoining the site where the building collapsed.
• The eight-storey building had collapsed in Kachi Ghati area of the city on October 1 as its foundation weakened due to continuous seepage of water.

The committee, headed by Shimla Deputy Commissioner Aditya Negi, today submitted the report to Rajneesh, Principal Secretary, Town and Country Planning (TCP). “The committee has submitted its report along with recommendations which we will examine before taking some policy decisions at the government level on the larger issues of constructions in the state capital,” confirmed Rajneesh.

The report of the fact-finding committee will not be placed before the Cabinet but significant policy decisions with regard to regulating construction activity could be based on it. The committee has also thrown light on the possible reasons that could have led to the collapse.

He said the committee had given its opinion on issues like safety of the four structures adjoining the site where the building collapsed. This includes suggestions like ensuring structural stability and retrofitting. The MC had ordered demolition of two of the buildings, above the collapsed structure, which has been stayed by the HC.

The eight-storey building had collapsed in Kachi Ghati area of the city on October 1 as its foundation weakened due to continuous seepage of water. Though there was no loss of life as the building had been evacuated, the disaster raised questions on the slackness on part of the TCP Department and Shimla MC in enforcing building norms under the TCP Act, 1977.

The collapse of the buildings has brought into focus the manner in which haphazard and unauthorised structures are being raised all over the town. The Kachi Ghati area, being unstable and with loose soil, is not suitable for heavy structures. Despite the instability of the strata, several high-rise buildings have been raised in the Kachi Ghati area even after the National Green Tribunal (NGT) restricted all constructions to two-and-a-half storeys in Shimla and banned all new constructions in the Cores Area.

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