Structural collapses are preventable tragedies
The death of almost 50 people following the collapse of two buildings and the leakage of a gas pipeline within a 48-hour period has shocked the nation. Yet, had only the authorities been more vigilant and heeded the warning signs in time, these tragedies could have been avoided. In the first two cases of building collapse especially, the culpability of civic officials cannot be ignored. On Saturday morning, 10 people, including five children, were killed after a 50-year-old north Delhi apartment block collapsed. Preliminary investigation has revealed that the collapse was triggered by construction work in the adjacent plot. Without the permission of municipal authorities, the contractor for that plot had begun underground digging. This, in turn, weakened the foundation of the existing apartment block whose inherent structural strength was evidently compromised as well. Soon, the building came crumbling down. While immediate responsibility for this disaster has been pinned on the contractor of the adjacent plot — he was arrested on Sunday — certain North Delhi municipal authorities have something to answer for. The illegal digging was happening under their nose. Moreover, if further investigation confirms that the collapsed apartment block had also been poorly constructed, then those who built it and those who were to keep a check on shoddy constructions must also be held accountable. The story is the same in Chennai’s Porur where on Saturday evening an under-construction, 11-storey building collapsed killing at least 17 persons. Six persons, including two owners and two engineers, have been arrested, but the local authorities seem to have escaped unscathed. This is unacceptable.
More often than not, local officials work in connivance with the contractors, making loads of money, at the cost of public safety. The extent of the problem is evident from the fact that every year, about 2,600 people die in different kinds of structural collapses. last year was especially bad when Mumbai saw two of its deadliest accidents — 74 people were killed in a building collapse in Mumbra suburb in April while 61 lost their lives in a similar tragedy in Mazgaon in September. There should be no two ways about the fact that those who sign off on permits for buildings that should not have come up in the first place or certify as ‘hospitable' homes and offices that are really just death traps, are just as much to blame — not just for mere dereliction of duty but criminal negligence as well.
Unfortunately, even in the gas pipeline leakage tragedy, there has been little talk of holding civic authorities responsible. Only the Government-owned Gas Authority of India limited has suspended two of its senior company officials, in the aftermath of the massive fire in Nagaram village of Andhra Pradesh's East Godavari district, which killed 19 persons. It is unclear what exactly caused the leakage but preliminary reports point to poor infrastructure. In fact, GAIl officials have alleged that the sulphur, carbon dioxide and water they found in the trunk pipeline at Nagaram shows that the petroleum products supplied by the oil companies were not properly refined, leading to a corrosion of the pipelines. These are allegations too serious to be left unaddressed.