‘Govt. authorities should undertake independent third-party structural audit’

Gurugram housing society partial collapse, that left two dead and one injured, brings to fore the substandard construction quality issue yet again

Several group housing projects that have come up along the Dwarka Expressway in Gurugram over the past decade are marred by poor construction quality. Concerns regarding the same have been constantly expressed by the residents at different platforms without any remedy. However, the multiple flat collapse at Chintels Paradiso in Sector 109 earlier this month, causing the death of two women and injuries to a senior government official has brought the issue into spotlight. The Hindu speaks to Raj V. Singh, former chief town planner of the Haryana government, on various aspects of the issue. Excerpts:

Q: Which agency is responsible for certifying construction quality for licenced colonies? Do government agencies have any role to play in it?

A: As per the law and the conditions of licence, the licencee along with his proof consultant engineers are responsible for the structural design scrutiny. The supervising engineer or the architect are jointly responsible to maintain good quality of construction in licenced colonies.  The government does not supervise these constructions but may act on specific complaints.

Q: What are the parameters for construction quality under the existing law?

A: Every construction in a licenced colony is governed by the Haryana Building Code which lays down the parameters for construction which are based on the Bureau of Indian Standards. According to this, no building can be occupied unless it is certified by the supervising engineer or architect that the building is constructed as per the approved plans and specifications.

Q: The recent incident at Chintels Paradiso in Sector 109 and similar complaints from other licenced colonies in Gurugram prove beyond doubt that construction quality in many of these group housing societies is not up to the mark. Where does the gap lie?

A: As already said, the responsibility lies squarely on the licencee and the technical staffers hired by him. Quality and specification control during the construction period requires day-to-day supervision, which cannot be done by any public agency. Very often, it is the greed of developers to save money by lowering standards or total lack of control which leads to poor quality of construction.