IIT-B to file audit report on Lloyd building

Mumbai: The Bombay high court has asked an expert committee of the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay (IIT-B), to file its structural audit report pertaining to restoration of the collapsed compound wall of Wadala’s Lloyd Estate building by next Thursday.

On Friday, the Bombay high court was told that an expert team from IIT-B had inspected the collapse site and that restoration work was underway as per its suggestions. The order was passed while hearing a petition filed by Dosti Blossom Society, challenging the permission granted to Dosti Realty to construct high-rises in the area. The petition was filed after the June 25 mishap, when the compound wall of Lloyd Estate building, adjacent to the construction site of Dosti Realty, caved in, burying several cars in the debris.

The petitioner’s counsel, Atul Damle, argued that the construction activity was causing damage to existing buildings in the area, including Dosti Blossom. He demanded that the realty firm be asked not to carry out further construction work.

Advocate Damle on Friday informed the court that the IIT team was on site and had given certain suggestions. “Ninety per cent of the backfill work is being done under the team’s supervision. We have used some of their suggestions,” he said. The court then sought a detailed report from the IIT team on July 12 and kept the petition for hearing on July 12.

Last week, the division bench of Justices A.S. Oka and Riyaz Chagla had asked the director of IIT to constitute a team comprising structural engineers and others to inspect the site and suggest both immediate and permanent measures.

M02