Lloyd estate wall collapse: Residents allege authorities, builder colluded

A 40foothigh Reinforced Cement Concrete RCC wall was constructed by Dosti Realty diagonally opposite Lloyd Estate and Dosti Blossom to prevent any cavein on that side inspections by structural experts have revealed On that side is the office of civic bodys Building Proposal Department the very same department that had given Dosti permission for its upcoming projectAs many as seven vehicles were buried in the cavein at WadalaBMCapproved structural engineer Nitin Kamble of Nitin amp Associates who had carried out extensive checks at both Dosti Blossom and Lloyd Estate had since 2017 been writing letters about the cracks and unevenness visible on the pavements and about the sunken driveway ever since the excavation work started and expressed fears about future damage to the structures around it and to human lifeThe engineer had also recommended that an RCC wall be constructed around the excavated areas as per the audit report and after numerous personal site conversations with the site engineers and structural engineers to avoid any further damage to the residential buildings but these were blatantly ignored by the developerThe cracks as pointed out by a structural engineer back in January this year in the BMCs Building Proposal Department diagonally opposite the site of last weeks cavein at WadalaKamble said On Sunday when I visited the site I was shocked to find that an RCC wall had already been constructed diagonally opposite Lloyd Estate and Dosti Blossom and the building proposal department building was merely 20 metres from the wall This is the same distance between the excavated area that caved in last week and Lloyd Estate building The closest distance from the excavated area to Dosti Blossom is just six metres of which one side of Dosti Blossom is merely three meters awayKamble in his letter dated August 4 2017 had mentioned the cavein of July 31 2017 at the construction site mere metres from the RCC wall In our audit report submitted to BMC we had stated clearly that an RCC wall from the excavated level which at present is around 40 feet to the ground level of Lloyds Estate should be constructed to avoid any landslide but other than doing piecemeal work of reinforcing a few areas no wall was constructed he saidAbout the retaining wall being only on one side of the excavated area Kamble said The approximate plot area excavated for construction is around 60 metres x 100 metres The RCC wall being built only next to the Building Proposal Department is obviously to avoid any cavein situation right under the building that has a direct impact on their workPost the cavein last week the developer was quick to use 179 tons of concrete to prevent a further cavein However eyewitnesses claim that the developer has also used soft soil to backfill the cavedin spot This according to experts might lead to another cavein in case of heavy to very heavy rainfall where the soil will be washed awayG B Yadav a managing committee member at Lloyd Estate said If they developer have constructed an RCC wall at only the excavated portion facing the Building Proposal Department it is evident that the developer is trying to keep the BMC happyDr G M Rana another resident said This clearly shows connivance between the Building Proposal Department and the developer Also the irony is that the Building Proposal Department is giving permissions without even conducting proper inspectionsAlso readLloyd estate wall collapse BMC to appoint special body for structural audit of Wadala towers