Gurugram: IIT Delhi experts, audit firm’s team inspect Chintels Paradiso tower

GURUGRAM: A team from the agency finalised for the structural test of Chintels Paradiso, along with experts from-IIT Delhi and members of the investigation committee constituted by the district administration, inspected the collapse site on Saturday. The agency is expected to start collecting samples next week for the ongoing structural audit of the Sector 109 project.

Two people had died in the vertical collapse of a portion of flats from the sixth to second floors of the residential society on February 9. The collapse occurred in Tower D of the society, which has several towers with 18 floors each.

Vishram Kumar Meena, the Gurugram additional deputy commissioner (ADC) and head of the investigation panel appointed by the administration, along with IIT-D experts, members of the testing agency, a structural engineer and officials from the public works department, police and department of town and country planning visited Tower D for the inspection, which began at 10am and continued till 1pm. During the inspection, the team visited different floors of the tower as well as the basement.

The visit, according to officials, was aimed at deciding the scope of work. Residents had recently filed complaints with the authorities over delays in the structural audit. “Saturday’s visit was to decide the scope of work and familiarise the testing agency with the issue and the site,” ADC Meena said, adding that the testing agency will work under the supervision of the IIT-D and submit its report to the committee.

District administration and DTCP had earlier appointed a structural engineer and valuer and a work order was issued. The valuer will visit the site on Monday to assess the value of the flats in Tower D before the incident. The valuer will also make valuations of interior and other items in the house at the time of the collapse.

The testing agency, structural engineer and valuer has the mandate to visit the site as and when required to study the structural designs to prepare their report. They will conduct more inspections, visit the site and verify structural drawings of the buildings at a defined number of randomly chosen locations and coordinate with the testing agency to carry out a detailed structural analysis.

Sandeep Barsaiyan, a resident, said they were not involved in the inspection, but the samples will be collected in their presence. “They have finally started the work. We were worried about the delay,” he said.