Panel inspects dhaba site in Solan, takes clay samples

Tribune News Service
Solan, July 22

A 13-member  magisterial  inquiry committee, led by SDM Rohit, Monday inspected the site on the Kumarhatti-Nahan road, where a dhaba building had collapsed on July 14. Fourteen persons — one woman and 13 Army men, were killed in the mishap. 

The panel comprised officials from the Town and Country Planning (TCP), Tourism, Public Works, Irrigation and Public Health, HP State Electricity Board Limited, National Highway, Mining, Revenue and the police.

The committee took stock of various aspects such as structural, geological and internal factors  that could have led to the incident. A team of geologists from Shimla drew clay samples that will help them understand whether the building had compressive strength to withstand the weight of four-storey.  The samples of the collapsed pillars will be drawn on Tuesday.

The officials said an examination of the site revealed that  the pillars had been raised on soft clay and the seepage of water had left it porous,  causing  it to tilt forward and collapse.

According to the committee members, several multistorey buildings have come up in the area whose structural stability is doubtful. 

 Since the TCP allows a realtor to sell eight flats without any permission, this norm has been exploited to the hilt.  Interestingly, these flats can be raised irrespective of the area. Builders often raise several blocks of eight flats under different names and conveniently evade any permission.

  What is even more worrisome is the fact that benami properties have come up in the area, wherein outsiders, after buying land in the name of a Himachali, have raised “substandard”  structures  and  made handsome bargains by selling them  further. In case of such eventualities, the real investor figure nowhere on papers and the buyers suffer for no fault of theirs.   Though the state government had been issuing directions to the Revenue Department  to  register such flats only after securing an  NOC from the TCP Department,  there was little adherence to this norm, said officials. They said a special investigation team should be formed to  probe these benami properties to put an end to the illegal business. 

Pillars were raised on soft clay

• The 13-member committee took stock of various aspects such as structural, geological and internal factors that could have led to the incident. 
• A team of geologists from Shimla drew clay samples that will help them understand whether the building had compressive strength to withstand the weight of four-storey. 
• The officials said an examination of the site revealed that the pillars had been raised on soft clay and the seepage of water had left it porous, causing it to tilt forward and collapse.