Chintels Paradiso: Sampling and testing of materials to start within 15 days

The department of town and country planning on Thursday said the sampling and testing work at Chintels Paradiso condominium will start within the next 15 days and the agency, which will carry out this work, will be hired within the next two or three days.

Six floors of Tower D in Chintels Paradiso had collapsed partially on February 10, killing two persons. The city police registered cases against the developer over the collapse and a structural audit was announced by the state government to ascertain the reasons for the collapse. The government formed a committee at the district level to probe the incident and also announced an inquiry by the Central Bureau of Investigation.

RS Bhath, district town planner(enforcement) and member of the district investigation committee, said he had a detailed meeting in this regard with the residents of the society on Wednesday, and he has assured them that sampling and testing work will commence within the next 15 days.

“The district committee has finalised the agency for the sampling and testing and the agency will work in collaboration with experts from IIT-Delhi. These formalities will be finalised in the next two or three days. I have assured the residents that the structural audit will be expedited,” he said.

Bhath said sampling of materials used in the construction will be done in two phases. “We have also asked the residents to submit an application to the district committee with regard to their demand that payments towards maintenance be put on hold till the structural audit report is submitted by IIT-Delhi,” he said.

Resentment is brewing among residents of Chintels Paradiso over delays in the structural audit process, which the residents said is necessary to ascertain whether the buildings were safe or not for habitation.

On May 7, two experts from IIT-Delhi and a structural engineer hired by the district administration, to probe the collapse and conduct structural audit, had collected samples for record.

Prior to that a three-member IIT-Delhi committee, comprising professor Shashank Bishnoi, professor Vasant Matsagar, and professor DR Sahoo, formed to conduct the structural audit of Chintels Paradiso had observed in its preliminary report on March 12 that given the age of the condominium, faster than expected deterioration has occurred in the structure. The team also found significant corrosion of steel reinforcement in the collapse debris and observed rust marks during a visual inspection of debris from Tower D.