Dhaka mayors, MP fault RAJUK’s ‘negligence’, contractor’s ‘irregularities’ for Karwan Bazar street collapse

Dhaka mayors and the local MP have blamed negligence of RAJUK and irregularities of a contractor firm for the collapse of Sundarban Hotel boundary wall, an alley and a part of the CR Dutta Road in the capital.

Staff Correspondentbdnews24.com
Published : 27 May 2015, 07:32 PM
Updated : 27 May 2015, 08:20 PM

They asked the relevant departments to take actions against them.

MP Sheikh Fazle Noor Taposh said: “It is RAJUK’s responsibility to oversee all works but they have failed miserably in this case.

“The contractor firm, too, did not take appropriate safety measures.”

A 120-feet stretch of the alley adjacent the hotel on the CR Dutta Road collapsed on Wednesday morning, bringing down with it a portion of its boundary wall.

The 15-feet alley between the hotel and the construction site of National Bank Twin Tower caved in and fell into a ditch dug for piling.

An electric pole, several trees, tea-stalls and several three-wheelers also fell into it.

The six-storey hotel at Karwan Bazar was evacuated after the incident as city authorities fear the building might collapse.

Officials of Sundarban Hotel said they had warned the NBL Twin Tower authorities over the construction flaws but they did not pay heed.

A general diary was filed with the Kalabagan Police Station over the construction flaws, Sundarban Hotel General Manager Wajed Ali told bdnews24.com.

“We warned them saying their piling wasn’t going right. But they didn’t listen and carried on with the construction,” he said.

Statements of Fire Service and Civil Defence officials also suggest that the contractor firm did not take adequate safety measures in their piling works.

However, Mohammad Salauddin, owner of the contractor firm M/S Construction and Development, fervently denied any error on their part.

“There was no problem with our construction. We were following RAJUK rules. No problem occurred in our work area, it happened beside our site.”

Dhaka North Mayor Annisul Huq said a 12-strong committee, including representatives of the army, fire service, city corporation, RAJUK, and other related bodies had been formed to initially address the crisis.

“We had a discussion about how to deal with this crisis and our expert team has suggested the formation of a support structure using sand bags. That is what we are doing now.”

Collapse with bang

Locals said the soil beneath CR Dutta Road came lose around 7:30am after it began raining.

Fire service personnel went to the scene hearing the news.

Though people around were panicked after the incident but they gathered there in great numbers later to see what happened.

Police and RAB members were deployed to ward off the people from the site.

The WASA water pipe on the basement of Sundarban Hotel and gas pipeline were damaged following the collapse.

Employees of Dhaka WASA, and power and gas distribution authorities reached the site and cut off the supply lines.

Later, several cracks developed on the hotel building prompting the authorities to evacuate it.

Kalabagan Police Station OC Md Iqbal said no casualties happened.

Dhaka North Mayor Huq arrived at the site around 10:30am.

Observing the situation there, he said: “The place is in terrible condition. Even the main street might collapse.”

The entire area of the hotel and under-construction building were cordoned off.

RAJUK draws flak
 
MP Taposh and Dhaka South Mayor Sayeed Khokan arrived at the site around 11:30am.
 
Finding nobody from RAJUK even four hours after the incident, Khokan said: “This is completely a negligence of duty.”
 

He said the buildings near the site had been put in a ‘big risk’ following the road subsidence and asked all to take urgent measures so that the situation did not worsen.
The mayor said there was negligence on the part of the contractor too. “It cannot be ignored.”
Taposh said: “They were planning to make a three-storey basement. But they had not taken the required approvals… for that I urge strict measures against them.”
RAJUK acting Chairman Abdur Rahman reached the site at the time the mayors and MP were speaking to journalists only to face their anger.
After a barrage of questions, he told journalists, “RAJUK might be responsible, but most of the responsibility lies with the contractor firm.”
He said the firm had violated RAJUK rules. “If they followed them, this would not have happened.” The acting chief promised legal actions against the contractor if violation of construction norms was detected and steps against officials if negligence in supervision was found.
Fire Service and Civil Defence chief Brig Gen Ali Ahmed Khan told reporters the contractor firm did not take the safety measures required for piling work.
Asked if there were any flaws in the NBL building’s plan, he said nothing could be said without examining the designs.