Pillar collapse: Committee suggests Rs 5 lakh penalty on construction firm
The expert committee, formed to probe the collapse of a pillar of the six-lane Hindon elevated road project, has found laxity on the part of the construction agency and decided to impose a fine of Rs 5 lakh.
Ghaziabad
The expert committee, formed to probe the collapse of a pillar of the six-lane Hindon elevated road project, has recommended a fine on the construction agency and also measures to avoid such instances in future.
One of the under-construction pillars (number 192) collapsed on GT Road on the night of April 25. The vice-chairman of the Ghaziabad development authority (GDA) had set up a committee of experts to inquire into the incident.
Read more: Ghaziabad authority forms committee to investigate pillar collapse
“We have found laxity on the part of the construction agency and decided impose a penalty of Rs 5 lakh. We have also suggested several other measures to ensure that the incident doesn’t recur,” said Vijay Kumar Yadav, vice-chairman, GDA.
The report also mentions that the construction agency started the casting work for the pillar without proper shuttering arrangements and without a clearance from the monitoring consultant. The report has also suggested the removal of the site engineer of the construction agency from the concreting work.
The 10.3km fully elevated road project is one of the priorities of the UP government and is estimated to cost Rs 1,147 crore. When complete, the road will connect Raj Nagar Extension housing hub to UP-Gate near Delhi-Ghaziabad border. The road project also got a nod for a loan of Rs 700 crore from the NCR Planning Board.
Read more: Part of Hindon elevated road pillar falls in Ghaziabad
However, the committee report only penalised the construction agency and did not fix any accountability on others who were involved in the monitoring of the project, including GDA officials.
As part of the quality and safety procedures, the design of the elevated road was scrutinised by three levels of selected third party agencies before finalisation.
One of the three is the empanelled consultant of ministry of road transport & highways. Further, there are on site third party engineers and other senior engineers to monitor the project in terms of material and lots during the project execution time. The project is also monitored by GDA engineers.