HYDERABAD: A Day after the winds brought down one of the floodlight towers at the LB Stadium, killing Central Goods and Services Tax (CGST) official TS Subramanyam, the question arises: Who is to be blamed?
One could start the introspection by addressing how the Sports Authority of Telangana State (SATS), in close to five years of its existence, has never conducted a structural assessment of the floodlight towers. In fact, they never felt the need until one of the said towers came crashing down, killing one.
When Express visited the place, the upper portion of the floodlight tower that fell to the ground had clear indications that a paint job has not taken place, at least in the recent past. Large portions of the iron framing of the towers were found to be corroded. Even in the recent past, when multiple political meetings were held at the stadium, many light bulbs were not functioning.
“There was never a doubt on the structural stability of the structure, which is why we did not conduct any assessments in the recent past,” Dinakar Babu, managing director of SATS, told Express. “Now, only after the fall has its structural stability come into the question,” added Babu.
However, experts from the national council for cement and building materials (NCCBM) point out that the corrosion was apparent across the structure, something hard to miss.
“The fault lines from where it fell is a bend that points at the weakening strength of the beam. It is necessary that further inspection be done on why it was weakened. But from what we could see, it looks like corrosion has caused the structure to fall,” said a structural engineer, who did not wish to be identified.
But even more surprising is the fact that the stadium has yet to have a renewal of the fire safety equipment currently in place. Call it sheer negligence or apathy, the stadium that swells to a full capacity of 25,000 persons has not even conducted mock drills.
“It is true that the fire safety equipments have not been renewed. We will get that done soon. There were not many fire safety drills conducted in the recent past,” Babu admitted while stating that the buildings were recently painted.
This scenario could be seen repeating across all the other SATS-managed stadiums, including the Gachibowli stadium, Kotla Vijay Bhaskar Reddy stadium, GMC Balayogi stadium and the Saroornagar stadium.
SATS officials to blame for stadium mishap: Raja Singh
BJP MLA Raja Singh held on Tuesday that the managing director of SATS should take responsibility for the killing of the TS Subramanyam. A day after the floodlight tower at the stadium fell, Singh stated that it was the negligence of the authorities that caused the mishap. “What if the tower had fallen outside the stadium? There could have been even more loss of lives. The officials are to be blamed,” he said. “The managing director should be removed immediately and commercial activities at the stadium should be stopped. It should be ensured that only sporting activities take place there,” he said
Fateh Maidan Club has to pay dues to tune of Rs 35 crore
As per a CAG report, the Fateh Maidan Club, located in the stadium, has to pay dues amounting to `35 crore. Notices were slapped by SATS to the club but the issue is in the court, officials said
SATS to assess the situation at all stadiums in its purview
The SATS is going to conduct a phased inspection of all the stadiums in its purview. “It is not possible to conduct the inspection at all the places in a single phase,” said Dinakar Babu, SATS MD. The stadium will be closed for outdoor sporting activities for the next week, he added