Engineer warns Eastern Gates residents to avoid usage of their balconies

On Friday, Vineet Jha, the victim of the parapet fall at Eastern Gates society in Vasundhara, personally called an engineer to look out for the flaws that could have led the parapet fall in his balcony.

The engineer, after an hour of structural evaluation of the building’s flats and the terrace, warned all the residents to avoid the usage of their balconies. “People living in the society should evacuate their balconies immediately,” the engineer said.

The engineer, wishing to remain anonymous, spoke exclusively to City Spidey about the structural flaws he found in the building. While inspecting, he pointed out a few aspects which may have caused the accident. He also said that if they weren’t urgently addressed, they could lead to severe damage in the future.

Firstly, he concurred with the residents that the material used in building construction is of inferior quality.

Secondly, he said that the placing of iron rods in the lintel roof is flawed. “The rods must’ve curved upwards at the point where the parapet starts and different set of rods should’ve been installed to cover the parapet area. In spite, the rods are not curving, but are prolonged till the parapet brim, making it unsteady,” he said.

Thirdly, he stated that the current rainwater drainage pipe which is 2.5 inches in diameter is not sufficient to pass the rainwater. For such a large building, pipes with 6 inches diameter should be used. He asked the residents to get new pipes installed.

Lastly, he added that due to poor maintenance, water that has accumulated on the roof passes through the cracks creating seepage further weakening the already weak walls.

As reported earlier, DM today ordered Aawas Vikaas Parishad to look into this incident.

Till the time of writing this story, nobody from the Aawas Vikaas Parishad has tried to contact the victim or the society.