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Shikhar, Akshardeep residents slam report Wednesday, April 25, 2001

Ahmedabad: The report of the technical committee, appointed by Gujarat High Court inspect and decide which of the 22 buildings damaged in the earthquake needed to be pulled down, was today slammed by residents of Shikhar Tower and Akshardeep apartment (block C),
who filed petitions saying the report was defective. sketchy and unacceptable
to them.

The report, submitted to the court last week, had categorized these two buildings along with 15 others as those that can be saved after extensive repairs. The report had identified five other buildings for demolition.

However, residents of Shikhar (A,B,C blocks) protested against the report and sat on "dharna" on Satellite Road. When the case came up for hearing today, advocate Mukul Sinha, who appeared for Shikhar residents, submitted before the Division Bench of Chief Justice D M Dharmadhikari and Justice PB Majmudar that the report was not acceptable to the residents who feel that the remaining blocks should be pulled down. Besides, the report was not final and did not take responsibility for its suggestions, he submitted. In fact, the report passed on the responsibility of safety to the structural engineer who takes up repairs, he pointed out.

Besides, Sinha also said the report was faulty as it did not evaluate the safety of these buildings in the context of Their vulnerability to earthquake. The report was totally silent on this aspect, he said. In view of these submissions, Sin ha said the report was not binding on the residents.

Advocate Kamal Trivedi, who appeared for the residents of Akshardeep (block C), argued on similar lines. He pointed out that since the report says that detailed investigations will still have to be carried out on the 17 buildings, it meant that the committee did not Cary out a detailed investigation. Besides, the report says that whoever carries out repairs will assume total responsibility for the building’s safety. Trivedi wanted to know who would give such a guarantee.

Advocate Girish Patel, who appeared for the Gujarat State Legal Services Authority, was more harsh in his criticism of the report. He said he had never seen such a sketchy report. "It is a waste of time," he added. He said the report should not be accepted at face value, and instead should be pat to scrutiny. When it was suggested that this was a tentative report, he snapped, "Can there be a tentative report in such a serious matter?"

After the arguments, it was suggested that residents of the 17 buildings should get reports from individual experts on the basis of which they will file the compensation claim with the State Government. Advocate General S N Shelat was asked what would be the State Government stand if residents want their buildings to be demolished on the basis of their own individual report.

The court adjourned hearing to Wednesday so that Shelat could make the State Government's stand clear.

 

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