Poor maintenence, overuse led to lift crash

Lack of proper maintenance and overuse were responsible for the lift crash at a drug testing and evaluation centre in Kodigehalli on Wednesday. Nine people were injured in the incident, two critically.

“Preliminary investigation has revealed that there was some sort of maintenance, but no proper checks were conducted. The firm that installed the lift was responsible for periodic maintenance and there are records that maintenance was done periodically. Despite this, the lift crashed, which indicates that the agency did not carry out maintenance work properly,” said a police officer.

“We have written to the Electrical Inspectorate, who is the competent technical authority to ascertain the cause. We would be able to say something after the Electrical Inspectorate submits a report,” said DCP (northeast) T R Suresh.

The police are still verifying whether the builder violated the National Building Code (NBC). The lift was installed after getting a clearance from the Electrical Inspectorate.
Builders commission private firms to install lifts, but clearance from the Electrical Inspectorate is mandatory. According to the Karnataka Lift, Escalator and Passenger Conveyors Bill, 2012, it is mandatory to employ only registered elevator companies for installation and maintenence and ensure that safety norms are strictly followed.

The NBC makes installation of lifts mandatory in any structure over 15 metres high. Type of the lift depends on height of the building and floor area. The Electrical Inspectorate is expected to check lifts once a year and issue a certificate to the owner, said the police.
The lift in the drug testing facility was installed two years ago by Total Management Solution in Koramangala. There was no lift operator.

“Metallic cables are damaged if they come in contact with metal pieces or nails frequently. Probably, some metal piece or nail must have come in contact with the cable every time the lift was operated, following which it snapped,” said B K Hampagol, retired deputy director (technical) of the Fire and Emergency Services.

The police said the Electrical Inspectorate will also check electrical points and buttons to assess whether there was any short circuit. Meanwhile, sources in Columbia Asia Hospital said one of the two persons admitted there was critical and the other was recovering. Ravikumar and Maruthi will, however, remain in ICU for the next three days, they added.
The police said top officers of the Semler Research Centre, against whom a case has been registered, are still at large. “There are definite leads and we will arrest them soon,” said the police.

Eight volunteers who had come to donate blood and a housekeeping staff were injured when the lift came crashing down on Wednesday.
DH News Service


Previous incidents:

October 2010: Three-year-old girl died after getting stuck between lift doors in a City apartment.
March 2011: 62-year-old man died and 15 people were injured after a lift crash at a building in Whitefield tech park.
Feb 2013:  A pregnant woman had a narrow escape at a hospital in Malleswaram after the elevator cable snapped.