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.
Published : 28 May 2015, 01:32 AM
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.
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.
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.”