Retaining wall work at snail's pace in Domlur

 The construction of a retaining wall of the Kendriya Sadan Accommodation building in Domlur has been dragging on for the past three months.

The wall, which gave way on September 10, due to heavy rain, was part of a 12-storey General Pool Office Accommodation for Kendriya Sadan. The contract for the construction is bagged by DEC Infrastructure & Projects (India) Private Limited. 

Construction has been taken up on 4,000 sq metre area since February 2012. 

A tree and a transformer were also uprooted during the downpour. While the transformer was repaired in a day, the tree continues to remain at the spot along with other uncleared debris.

Damaged drains

According to Oomen, an affected resident, the wall has damaged the stormwater drain in the area.

“The road nearby becomes sloppy. The pedestrian protection wall is also in a bad state. We have to also bear the mosquito menace since water gets accumulated overtime, apart from the dust and pollution from the construction site,” he said. 

Domlur corporator Geetha Srinivas Reddy accused the authorities in charge of the work of not listening to anyone. 

“Since the land belongs to the Central government, nothing much can be done. Though they have promised to restore the entire area once the project is over, one can only wait and see if this actually takes place,” she said, speaking to Deccan Herald.

The corporator added that the drainage pipelines and service roads in the area have been damaged due to the ongoing construction. “Several notices served on the authorities concerned have been of no use,” she said.

When contacted, however, S N Rai, Superintending Engineer, Central Public Works Department, said that the repair work will be completed in 25 days. 

“We have also redesigned the building and over four lakh litres of accumulated water has been pumped out,” he said. 

According to sources, loose soil and weak anchors utilised for supporting the retaining wall were blamed for the collapse.