A day after two women construction workers had died when the embankment collapsed on them at a work site opposite the Tata Consultancy Services office in Madhapur in the city, a team of experts from the Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University- Hyderabad found fault with the builder, Vamshiram Builders. In its preliminary inspection report on Tuesday, the JNTUH team said it was due to deep excavation of land for constructing a building by Vamshiram Builders that the embankment collapsed.
Excavation was made very close to the road. No arrangements were made at the site to retain the deep excavated portion. The excavation is totally vertical without any lateral support, causing easy movement of the soil mass. According to the experts, the heavy surcharge load (steel), compounded by the impact of placing of reinforcement on the road, led to the collapse of a huge lump of soil mass. And, movement of heavy vehicles very close to the excavated portion aggravated the situation.
JNTU professor of civil engineering NV Ramana Rao, who conducted the inquiry, observed that a cellar floor had been dug to a depth of nearly 10.50 metres for the proposed multi-storeyed building. Excavation was carried out very close to the road and almost abutting it with no or little setback. The soil condition indicated loose and disintegrated morum (mud), especially in the top 5 metres.