The steel in the cantilever beam of a portion of Mantri Square mall eroded and weakened due to continuous seepage and displaced from its location causing the passage way collapse on January 16, the six-member inquiry committee has said in its report.
Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike commissioner N Manjunath Prasad, who headed the panel, submitted the 47-page report to Mayor G Padmavathi on Thursday. The report highlights the flaws in a portion of the structure that led to the passage way collapse in which two people were injured.
Technical members of the panel were BBMP additional director (Town Planning) M B Thippanna, Prof Radhakrishna of R V College of Engineering, K S Jayasimha, R Nagendra and M S Sudarshan of CIVIL-AID Technoclinic.
They visited the spot four times, took samples of the concrete and sent it for lab testing. Based on the test reports, the panel observed that the eroded beam lost its load-bearing capacity, leading to wall collapse. The panel recommended that the cantilever beam should be strengthened by re-enforcing steel. The builder should ensure that extra structural stability is provided to the building, the panel observed.
Manjunath Prasad told journalists that till the recommendations are complied with, the Palike will not issue the Occupancy Certificate (OC), which was withdrawn soon after the incident. Until the OC is restored, the mall will remain shut. He said that the panel did not go into the setback and other violations in the building because the OC was issued after verifying the compliance of the sanctioned building plan.
“However, at the time of restoring the Occupancy Certificate, the Palike will check other violations too,” the commissioner said. He said a copy of the report will be submitted to Mantri Developers and the state government after which it will be uploaded on the BBMP’s website.
Published 02 February 2017, 20:44 IST