As the 20-feet tall common compound wall of Lodha Aria and neighbouring building crashed, residents of adjacent society blamed poor construction; no loss of lives or injuries reported
With the incessant rainfall in the city, the compound wall and the children's play area of Lodha Aria in Parel collapsed on Monday morning. While no one was hurt, residents of the adjacent residential complex, Ashok Gardens, have alleged that the wall collapsed due to faulty construction by Lodha Developers, and not necessarily because of the rain. Secretary of Ashok Gardens Sanjay Kanodia said that their society was formed around eight years ago while Lodha Aria was hardly six to seven years old and that poor construction could be the only reason behind the collapse.
Kanodia said the common compound wall between the two buildings is 20-feet high and that Lodha Aria has a children’s play area along the wall in their premises which also is 20-feet high. "The wall collapsed and the soil beneath the play area also came sliding down with parts of it falling in instalments. It is fortunate that there was no one there at the time," he said. He added that though he isn't a technical expert, he couldn't see any aggregate or cement in the remains of the compound wall.
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The play area of Lodha Aria also collapsed along with the wall
Another resident, who didn't wish to be named said the wall was not constructed correctly. "We heard this loud noise in the morning and later found out that the whole play area had collapsed. They [Lodha] built the playground on debris they accumulated from the construction. They never built any foundation and the wall had gunny sacks inside. It’s their fault that the wall has collapsed," said the resident. Kanodia added that they will ask an expert to survey the damage before taking further steps.
"A team from Lodha came to inspect the site. They have promised to take measures to control the damage," he said.
Civic officials and officials from the Fire Department who rushed to the spot said the incident occurred at around 10.30 am on Monday. A senior civic official from F Southward said that an L-shaped portion of the children's play area measuring 6x3 metres collapsed. "There was only a concrete wall and Lodha developers should have constructed a retaining wall as well. The compound wall couldn't take the weight of the earth below the children's play area and thus collapsed," he said.
Assistant municipal commissioner S Kshirsagar said, "We will ask for the plans of the building from the Building Proposal department. After studying them, we will take further action accordingly." Lodha developers' spokesperson said, "We understand that the common wall has collapsed due to the settlement of soil on the Ashok Gardens site. We have provided immediate assistance and will work with the two societies to help resolve the issue."
The debris falling onto the neighbouring building
'Soil conditions at fault'
He added, "As usual, there are some individuals who allege that Lodha is responsible — the wall was built almost 10 years ago and has withstood many heavy monsoons. Collapse is likely due to soil conditions in adjacent society. The facts are clear and our focus at this time is to do what we can to help."
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