Chintels asked to permanently close tower that collapsed in Gurgaon society

Exercising powers under CrPC section 144 and section 34 of the Disaster Management Act, 2005, an order passed by district magistrate Nishant Kumar Yadav on Wednesday said the committee constituted by the district administration to probe the cause of the collapse and the safety of other buildings in the complex submitted its report on Tuesday.

“After perusal of the report, it is evident that the structure of Tower D is not safe for habitation and due to high chloride content in the concrete throughout the structure, it is also not technically and economically feasible for any kind of repair,” the order read.

It directed the developer to settle the dues/liabilities of the allottees/flat owners within 60 days.

“The committee has brought to my notice that there is sagging of one of the balconies in Tower-F and other distress in the floors of various other flats in Tower-E and F. It has also recommended that the towers – E and F – should be vacated immediately for the safety of the residents,” said Yadav.

On Saturday, Yadav had said that a structural audit report by experts from IIT Delhi had found ‘structural deficiencies’ and deemed tower D, which has 17 floors and 64 flats, unsafe for habitation.

The report of the committee, headed by additional deputy commissioner Gurgaon, said that the representative of both Chintels India Pvt Ltd and M/s Manish Switchgear and Construction failed to regulate and monitor the retrofitting works, which led to the collapse of slab and ensuing damage to the lower floors.

“The repair work was also not monitored… The committee observed that excessively corroded steel reinforcement was painted with a yellow-coloured solution to conceal the corrosion. This lapse is further corroborated by the IIT Delhi report. After perusing IIT Delhi’s report… it is clear that wrong methodology was adopted for the repair work, which led to the immediate collapse. The shuttering support was required before undertaking the retrofitting in flat number D-603, but it was not provided,” the report read.

The committee’s report said that the manner in which the slab collapsed indicated that there were structural deficiencies in the overall structure of Tower D.

“This apprehension has been confirmed by the report of IIT Delhi, wherein it has been specifically mentioned that there is rapid and early corrosion of reinforcement that occurred due to the presence of excessive chlorides in the concrete. Further, it has been mentioned that the same signs of the corrosion of reinforcement are visible in all the towers of the project. Hence, the root cause of the collapse is attributed to the inherent problem of excessive chloride content in reinforced cement concrete, which induces and accelerates the corrosion in the reinforcement. This issue led to the deterioration of the concrete which further necessitated the repair work which was being carried out in flat D-603,” the report added.

The committee’s report said that IIT Delhi’s report had also mentioned that the remaining towers, that is A, B, C, E, F, G, H and J, also be vacated until the ongoing investigation was completed in the interest of the safety of the residents.

“The committee agrees with the IIT Delhi report. The developer should also be directed to immediately re-settle all the families immediately,” it added.