Preliminary investigations show lacuna by consultant; final report expected soon

Preliminary investigations into the Malad reservoir wall collapse that killed 30 have exposed the consultant’s shoddy design.

The consultant had prepared designs for the compound wall around the Malad hill reservoir, following which a contractor was appointed in 2015 to undertake construction. A committee of experts appointed by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) investigated concrete samples from the wall and found the quality to be satisfactory. However, it found the wall’s design to be inappropriate. A final report is expected soon.

On the night of July 1, two large portions of the compound wall of the Malad hill reservoir collapsed at Pimpripada and Ambedkar Nagar, killing 30 and injuring at least 68. Residents blamed the wall’s poor construction since it had been rebuilt only two years before the incident. They also claimed that the BMC had left no vents for rainwater to drain out.

The hill reservoir originally had an old stone wall that was demolished and a new concrete wall was constructed around it in 2017. The new wall is 2.35 km long and its construction cost ₹21 crore. Raje Consultants Pvt. Ltd. prepared the designs for the wall while the contractor, Omkar Engineers and Contractors, did the construction. The contractor was issued the work order on December 4, 2015, and work started on December 15. The work was completed on November 15, 2017. The contractor was later blacklisted in the desilting scam. The wall is under the defect liability period till 2020.

The BMC issued a show-cause notice to the contractor. It also appointed a committee of experts, including retired civic engineers, professors of the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay, and Veermata Jijabai Technological Institute to investigate the incident. The committee visited the sites and held several meetings.

Sample satisfactory

“The committee has submitted an interim report. There is a prima facie lacuna in design of the wall. We are expecting a final report soon,” additional municipal commissioner Praveen Darade said. It also tested concrete samples from the wall, which were reportedly satisfactory. The concrete was required to be of ‘M-35’ quality and was found to be so.

“The design of the wall did not take into account water pressure during the rains, and whether there are sufficient peepholes for water to flow out,” said another civic officer.

Asked why the consultant’s design was not vetted, officers said the wall’s construction was considered routine work and therefore its design was not vetted.

The BMC will decide on any action to be taken against the consultant, contractor and officers once the final report is in.

Vinod Mishra, Bharatiya Janata Party corporator and ward committee chairman for P North ward, said, “Any wall requires pillars but this wall was built as one continuous structure without pillars. There was no proper planning, and a supervision failure. Like the foot overbridge crash near Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus, there needs to be action against the consultant, contractor and civic officers. We will push for a first information report.”

Raje Consultants Pvt. Ltd. did not respond to queries.