Vadodara twin-building collapse: Probe panel chief visits crash site

Shah was the only person with complete knowledge about the construction process — right from the planning stage to offering the contract. Hence,his death is expected to directly affect the investigation.

Shah died of heart attack on Thursday night. He was the VUDA chairman between 1998 and 2003 — the period during which the construction of the buildings under the housing scheme for the economically weaker sections (EWS) was undertaken. During the same period,he was also holding the city BJP president’s post. This was on the key posts he held during his long association with the BJP.

Shah also served as the VUDA chairman between 1995 and 1996.

Anand-based contractor K R Makwana,who got the contract,is also believed to be have had close links with the BJP.

With the investigation suffering the loss of a vital source,opposition Congress has raised questions over the appointment of Subramaniam as the probe panel head and asked for her removal on grounds that she had served as the urban development secretary at the time when the buildings were constructed. Subramaniam held the post of the urban secretary in 1999-2001.

“These houses were designed,tendered and contracts were awarded in your tenure… even plinth-checking was done before 2001 and certified,so how can

we expect an independent inquiry?” city Congress leaders stated in a memorandum submitted to Subramaniam during her visit to Vadodara. Leader of Opposition in the Assembly Shankersinh Vaghela has demanded a judicial probe into the matter.

On her part,Subramaniam,during her visit to Vadodara on Saturday,assured that the inquiry will be fair even while agreeing to serious lapses in the construction and design of the material that caused the buildings to collapse,killing 11 and leaving three injured. She also admitted that other buildings in the area were in equally bad shape and risky to inhabit.

“It is a serious matter that two buildings have collapsed. There is a clear lapse on the part of design and construction. We are looking into the departmental lapses,” she said.

Subramaniam,who retired as the state chief secretary,also served as the additional chief secretary,urban development,and the vigilance commissioner. Her tenure as the urban development secretary coincided with the period when the housing scheme under the EWS was constructed in Vadodara.