Amid several incidents of the BBMP receiving flak for their quality of work in the city, a three-storied building housing a hotel in Majestic area collapsed on Tuesday night, July 28 at around 10:15 pm. It was located on the premises where the iconic Kapali theatre once stood. No casualties were reported as the occupants evacuated just then the building developed cracks.
In 2017, Kapali theatre in Gandhinagar was demolished to make for a mall and a multiplex and construction was underway to build a parking lot. According to reports, the ground was dug 80 ft deep under and the neighbouring buildings had started to develop cracks after which the neighbouring occupants evacuated.
Building plan and permissions to be investigated
The Fire and Police personnel launched a rescue operation, fortunately, nobody was inside the building. The building owner has lodged a complaint with BBMP asking them to demolish the building as it is causing trouble to the buildings around.
Dinesh Gundu Rao, Gandhinagar MLA, said that the owner of the under-construction site should pay for the losses faced by the neighbouring building. He also asked officials to look into the building plan and permission.
This incident raises questions, as to, was the plan approved for the construction and was permission given beforehand? Were experts like geotechnology consultant taken into consideration?
