Mumbai: The collapse of the boundary wall of Lloyds Estate in Wadala on Monday has opened a Pandora’s box, drawing attention to the safety issues faced by the adjoining buildings which have also been impacted by the excavation conducted by Dosti Realty Ltd in the Krishna Steel compound.
Manoj Gurav, a resident of Dosti Blossom, said, “Despite repeated complaints by residents of Dosti Blossom about the basement cave-in and vertical and horizontal cracks developed on the walls, the developer and the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) failed to take action and were passing the buck.”
Structural engineer Nitin Kamble had, in his report dated June 27, 2018, pointed out several soil cavities around the common compound wall and at multiple other places, causing a separation in the wall. Besides, multiple vertical cracks are observed on the face of concrete walls protecting the building. “The faulty shore piles and failure in the design were the main reasons behind the collapse. We have submitted the report, now we are hoping something positive emerges,” he said.
According to a committee member of Dosti Blossom society, Vipul Bondal, “The residents fear that the compound wall would suffer a similar fate as that of Lloyds. It’s another mishap in the making. Builder has gone incommunicado since the first collapse. We don’t know what to do, with no constructive help from BMC and builder.”
Although the Dosti Daffodil Society Ltd does not share a boundary wall with the construction site but adjoins Dosti Blossom, it too is grappling with the consequences of the extensive excavation which began in June 2016. The residents of Dosti Daffodil had also raised the issue of tilting of the walls and widening of the cracks with the builder and BMC but no to avail.
The representatives of the societies, including Lloyds Estate, have now demanded from BMC that the structural audit and soil testing of their buildings be done by private institutions like Veermata Jijabai Technological Institute (VJTI) and Indian Institute of Technology Bombay (IIT-B) and the permission given to Dosti Realty to continue working on the Krishna Steel compound should be cancelled till the buildings are made structurally safe.
