A day after wall collapse, Noida begins probe to fix responsibility

The committee is headed by additional chief executive officer Praveen Kumar Mishra and has chief architect and town plannerIshtiyaq Ahmed as its member

A day after the Jal Vayu Vihar apartments boundary wall in Sector 21 collapsed, killing four and injuring eight workers cleaning the drain adjacent to it, the committee set up by the Noida authority to probe the incident and fix responsibility questioned five officials on Wednesday.

Noida Police cordon off the wall collapse site at Sector 21 in Noida on Wednesday. (Sunil Ghosh/HT Photo)

The committee is headed by additional chief executive officer Praveen Kumar Mishra and has chief architect and town plannerIshtiyaq Ahmed as its member.

The contractor authorised by the Noida authority was carrying out digging work to repair the drain adjacent to the boundary wall, and it is believed that the work loosened the foundation of the wall, causing it to crumble. Victim families have alleged that the contractor made them work on Tuesday, under threat of cutting their wages, even after they informed him that the wall had started tilting.

The committee will ascertain the responsibility of the engineering department that hired the contractor for the drain work, estimated to cost ₹92 lakh.

“We are collecting the facts about this case so that we can understand the sequence events from those who were engaged in the work and those who were monitoring the work. We have talked to five engineers on Wednesday and the probe will continue until we speak with everyone involved. We want to understand who let the workers continue with the digging even after the foundation bricks came loose and what exactly caused the wall to collapse. We will fix responsibility soon and conclude the probe,” said Mishra.

The authority has not fixed any timeline for completing the inquiry. “There is no fixed time as to when we will complete and submit the report, but it will be done at earliest,” said Mishra.