Earth dug up beyond the permissible limit

Sanjay Bumbroo

Tribune News Service

Mohali, February 9

The contractor had dug up the basement beyond the sanctioned depth, which exposed the foundation of the adjacent three-storeyed building leading to its collapse and resulting in the death of a person and injuries to two others.

A preliminary report on the incident revealed that the builder did not inform the Municipal Council before digging the earth for construction of the basement, which was mandatory.

Deputy Commissioner Girish Dayalan said the owner of the building had also failed to produce the requisite structure stability report for erecting two mobile towers atop the three-storeyed building. He said these matters would be investigated further once the debris was removed from the spot.

The DC said the builder had alleged that the contractor had proceeded on the excavation work without his consent and ended up digging up more than the sanctioned depth, which could also have resulted in the collapse of the adjacent building.

Dayalan said a report would be prepared by an Additional District Magistrate-level officer in which all such parameters like the structure stability report, the permissible limit for digging up of basement and the foundation strength of building, would be looked into. He said as per the directions of the Punjab Chief Minister, the ADM would submit the report within a week.

The DC said but one thing was very clear that the earth had been dug beyond the permissible limit, exposing the foundation of the adjoining three-storeyed building causing it to collapse. Dayalan said out of the two mobile towers, permission for one was granted in 2016 and the record related to the second tower was being checked.

Sangeet Ahluwalia, Executive Officer, Municipal Council, Kharar, said they had started an inquiry and if any negligence on the part of any employee of the civic body was found, strict action would be taken against that employee.

Meanwhile, directions were issued to a junior engineer to carry out a survey of the digging of basements being carried out by contractors in the Kharar area.

The EO said if the digging was found being done beyond the permissible limits at any site in the Kharar area it should be stopped immediately.