Fresh land subsides near NBL Twin Tower site; builders, owners blamed

The government has leapt to defence of Dhaka’s development agency RAJUK after more parts of a street caved in near a hotel in the capital.

Another side of NBL Twin Tower site in Karwan Bazar, where piling works were going on, subsided on Thursday, a day after the collapse of Sundarban Hotel boundary wall, an alley and part of a street.

The northeastern side of the tower site collapsed around 9pm on Thursday.

However, the Ministry of Housing and Public Works has blamed the building authorities and contractor of the building for the incident.

National Bank Limited, which owns the building, claimed the incident was a ‘natural disaster’. MS Construction and Development is constructing the building.

A part of CR Dutta Road and a 120-feet stretch of the alley adjacent to the hotel 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 NBL Twin Tower caved in and fell into a ditch dug for piling.

Police and fire service officials told bdnews24.com there were no casualties on Thursday as workers were withdrawn from the site afterWednesday’s incident.

A witness, ‘Nazmul’, said he heard a bang while passing the site around 9pm on Thursday.

Going close to the site, he found the northeastern part had collapsed.

He said a billboard had been affected due to the fresh subsidence.

Dhaka mayors and local MP Fazle Noor Taposh had blamed RAJUK’s negligence and irregularities of the contractor firm for Wednesday’s collapse near Sundarban Hotel.

“It is RAJUK’s responsibility to oversee all works but they have failed miserably in this case,” Taposh had said. “The contractor firm, too, did not take appropriate safety measures.”

Officials of Sundarban Hotel said they had warned the building authorities about construction flaws but they did not pay heed.

But Housing and Public Works Minister Mosharraf Hossain, visiting the site later that night, said RAJUK lacked manpower for supervising construction works.

The agency has opened an investigation into the incident.

Hossain had asked its committee to submit findings in a report in 24 hours but no progress on the probe was known until Thursday.

The ministry in a media statement on Thursday blamed the building owner and contractor firm for the incident.

“The owner or contractor firm has to take responsibility if any building is constructed flouting existing laws and codes or any accident happens during the construction,” it said.

Earlier in the day, Dhaka North Mayor Annisul Huq said he would seek the army’s help to prevent any further damage.

“The ministry has already cleared the proposal,” Huq told reporters at the collapse site on Thursday.