College building develops major cracks before inauguration

Arteev Sharma

Tribune News Service

Jammu, June 9

A controversy over “major irregularities” in the construction of a multi-storey building of Government Degree College (GDC), Jindrah, seems to be dogging the J&K administration, with the structure developing major cracks even before it was put to use.

What is more shocking is that the mega structure, being developed at an estimated cost of Rs 12 crore, has been constructed on a land in a “landslide prone” area, without seeking proper clearance from geological experts and other agencies.

The construction work, which was started in 2014, has been stopped for the time being due to strong opposition by the local people who have now demanded an independent inquiry into all “irregularities” that has put “the future of young students from around 100 villages in the vicinity into jeopardy”.

“Substandard construction material has been used in the building. The building is not safe for our children and we can’t risk their lives in the name of education,” Raman Kumar, a resident said.

“We urge Lieutenant-Governor Girish Chandra Murmu that an independent probe into all irregularities in construction of this multi-crore project must be ordered. There should be a safety audit of building and accountability must be fixed for negligence,” local sarpanch Anil Sharma said, adding, “All standard norms were violated during the selection of land”.

“The land, on which this mega building has been raised, is a landslide prone area. We want to know whether the executing agency took the clearance of technical experts before starting the construction work,” he asked.

Former MLA and National Conference provincial president Devender Singh Rana had also expressed serious concern over structural cracks developed in the building and sought an inquiry into “poor and substandard quality of work” besides “fixing responsibility and punishing those responsible for gross negligence”.

The engineers of the executing agency — J&K Police Housing Corporation — admitted that the land (on which the college building has been raised) was “sliding” and the cracks developed in the building “due to sinking of land”.

“The building was ready to use. The work of quality was executed but all of sudden, the behaviour of the land changed. The land, being hillside, is sliding and sinking. A portion of the porch and its columns have developed cracks. Besides, the water is also seeping in from nullah in the rear. We have started work on a protection wall, while reconstruction of the damaged porch would be executed soon,” Saleem U Sabha, incharge Executive Engineer of the J&K Police Housing Corporation, told The Tribune.

He said the estimated cost of the project was Rs 11.47 crore and they had spent around Rs 9 crore so far.