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Why this indifference?
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All over the country, priority is given to elegance and aesthetics, and not for safety in building construction
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It is just about a year since a builder unveiled one more of his creations, consisting of high-end flats that sold for almost half a crore a piece. The commercial frontage of the apartments too got a premium client to set up shop, a few months ago, with much fanfare. But, a few days ago, a reader informed that there was a death in that posh block. “Well, it happens,” I said, remembering what Buddha had said on the difficulty of getting a mustard seed from a hom
e where death has never occurred. “I know,” says my friend, “but this one happened because a window frame fell from a top floor recently.”
I learn that the woman on whom the loose window fell was a labourer working there. “She suffered internal injuries, perhaps, and went to a doctor in the apartment who advised her to go to a hospital,” narrates my friend. “She came down the stairs and asked the watchman to fetch an auto. But before any vehicle came, she collapsed and died.” I’m shocked, and ask, “Cops would have come?” He responds: “No, the matter got hushed up, it looks like.” These things don’t get hushed up, that’s the problem. I’m sure that residents in the block would be spending sleepless nights, in collective guilt, though the builder is to blame. It might well be that the contractor or whoever would have paid some money to the deceased woman’s family and earned some gratitude too. One may wonder if that’s the price of human life, but I’m sure the company’s accountant would have booked the compensation outflow as ‘building maintenance charges’, or more ironically as ‘employee welfare expenses.’
Incidents such as this are not isolated. For instance, a few years ago, a girl fell down from the terrace of a four-storey residential complex because the parapet wall provided was very short. As indication of potential accidents, you may spot, on looking around, leaning walls tending to fall, and shaky plaster that’s just not falling faster.
A study conducted not long ago by a consumer organisation in Gujarat looked at 18 housing projects, comprising 4,500 units, constructed by private and government agencies. Predictably, findings spoke of gross violation of building byelaws, use of substandard materials, and inadequate/ nil technical supervision. Woeful stories of residents spoke of damp roofs, peeling plaster, faulty wiring, leaky taps, corroded reinforcement, splintered windows and vibrating parapets. Most of the users had to replace shutters and fixtures of the joinery within a short time.
“Unfortunately, all over the country, priority is given to elegance and aesthetics, and not for safety,” rues C.H. Gopinatha Rao, when I approach him to ask for comments on the killer window, which I guess should have looked good in a photograph. “Many developers award contracts to builders on the basis of lowest quotation. Quality of construction takes a backseat. As a result, neither the materials nor the workmanship is tested as specified by the Bureau of Indian Standards.” But quality shortfall can have a lethal fallout.
Another source of standards is the National Building Code, in respect of materials, workmanship, sizes and heights of rooms to be adopted for comfortable living, utilising the latest developments in building designs and construction techniques, informs Mr. Rao. “NBC’s criteria are designed to protect the safety of the building with regard to structural sufficiency, and health aspects, apart from preventing hazards such as fire, floods, earthquakes and so on.”
The situation can improve only when developers arrange for quality checking, either directly or through independent agencies. For the interested, here is a site to check out: www.physfac.ohio-state.edu/bldg_audits, of the Department of Physical Facilities in the Ohio State University. There are links to ‘building condition reports’ prepared by the department. However, if you typed ‘building audit India’ and searched the Web, what would show on top is “CAG’s office building ‘Audit Bhaban’” of Bangladesh. But that’s not what would help us in our present predicament, would it?
Feedback to dmurali@thehindu.co.in
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Property Plus
Bangalore
Chennai
Hyderabad
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Thiruvananthapuram
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