The collapse of a 11-storeyed

building at Chennai
Deepak M.

The Mishap.

The residential project Trust Heights by Prime

Sristi Housing Pvt. Ltd
11-Stored under-construction building on June 28,
2014 at Moulivakkam, Chennai.
61 persons killed. 27 persons rescued alive with
injuries.
The 8 persons including structural engineer,
builders and site engineers have been arrested for
criminal negligence.

Facts.

A few decades ago this site used to be part of a

huge wetland, a catchment area for the Porur
Lake.
There was heavy rain and lightening before the
collapse.
It is tragic that another smaller building in which
seven families were living also collapsed
completely due to the falling of debris of the 11
storey building.

A man shows his damaged house located

behind the multi-storey building

Rescue operations are on at the site of the building collapse

REASONS

Investigation done by

SIT (Special investigation Team)

CREDAI (Confederation of Real Estate Developers
Association)
CMDA (Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority )

SIT (Special investigation Team)

The SIT was constituted on July 6 by Chief

Minister Jayalalithaa to investigate the tragedy.
Expertise from the IIT Madras, Anna University
and the Public Works Department.
They recorded the statements of witnesses after
meeting survivors of the tragedy from Tamil Nadu,
Andhra Pradesh and Odisha. Soil tests and
inspection of construction materials were also
conducted.

SIT (Special investigation Team)

The probe, carried out for 50 days, compiled over

following key findings..

The density of the concrete used was unsatisfactory,

Steel samples recovered from the debris were of
substandard quality,
The bearing capacity of soil was inadequate,
the overall structural stability was dangerous,
some persons employed as engineers were not
qualified

CREDAI (Confederation of Real Estate Developers Association)

The task force found that the structure failed due

to human error,
It was a structural engineering disaster.
the use of weak load-bearing beams and columns,
and use of sub-standard construction material,

CMDA (Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority )

There is no mistake in giving building permit to this

building.
It seems that the permit was initially given for 6
storey building only. So the foundation was made
for this only and the construction started. After
sometime sanction for extra 5 floors was obtained,
i.e for 11 floors. Hence, on a foundation for 6
floors, 11 storey building was constructed.

CMDA (Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority )

The architect of the building Mr Vijay is not

registered with the Council of Architecture.
Its proprietor was worked in a bank and entered
into construction business after retirement only in
2011. his inexperience in the construction industry
is also considered as one of the reasons for the
failure.

CMDA (Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority )

The carelessness while constructing the building is

the prime cause. Especially when constructing a
building in a lake area, the piles should be taken to
the level where rock is found. but in this building it
was not done. i.e. instead of going up to 85 feet,
they did not even go half the depth. Moreover, the
size of columns are not sufficient to take care of
11floors!

Conclusion

Negligence and inexperience : Both in investigation

and execution stage.
Greed and selfish of proprietor.
System/procedural pitfalls in the design and the
construction of the building.

Recommendations

A proper and detailed soil/Geotech Investigation

must be legally made mandatory before designing
any important, especially a tall or a complex
structure.
It is necessary that all local government bodies
should make mandatory the submission of
comprehensive structural design calculations and
drawings, along with architectural approval
drawings, duly checked by third party independent
engineers.

Recommendations

The QA/QC procedures must mandatory , the

testing agency should really recommend the
suggestions based on the tests carried out on site.

Sources

STRUCTURAL ENGINEERING FORUM OF INDIA

[SEFI]
The New Indian Express Daily http://www.newindianexpress.com
The Hindu Daily http://www.thehindu.com/
NDTV.com http://www.ndtv.com/topic/chennai-building-collapse

THANK YOU