BENGALURU: BBMP Commissioner N Manjunath Prasad and Mayor M Goutham Kumar on Wednesday visited the under-construction building that collapsed on Tuesday night in Majestic, where the Kapali theatre once stood.
As soon as the building started to develop cracks and tilt, the police, the fire and emergency department and the BBMP ensured that all neighbouring buildings were evacuated.
Speaking to the media after the inspection, Prasad said, “A show-cause notice has been sent to the company (Dharma Keshava Infra Private Limited) and the building sanction plan has been put on hold. A special committee has been formed to inspect the site and give a detailed report. Based on the findings, legal action will be initiated against the company. The company has also been told to pay for damages to neighbouring buildings and for clearing the construction debris.”
Meanwhile, the BBMP wrote to Dr Shankar, managing trustee of the neighbouring Ananath Swamy Mutt, to vacate the building.BBMP officials who were part of the inspection said the company had taken permission to construct four basements, a ground floor and five floors on a 56,000-square-foot plot.
The plan sanction was as per December 2018 bylaws, but the company had not collected the commencement certificate. Also, the company was supposed to construct four retaining walls, but had completed only three. Deep excavation work was also done. They claimed that due to Covid, labourers had left. No precautionary measures were taken and due to heavy rainfall, the soil had become loose. Since the foundation work was incomplete, the building collapsed.
Officials added that a week ago, a complaint was sent to the BBMP that the building had started to tilt. The BBMP and the police then inspected the spot and asked people in nearby buildings to evacuate.