Kochi : A towering military apartment complex in Vyttila is on way to collapsing due to seriously faulty structure like the old Palarivattom flyover. Two of the total 3 buildings standing of marshy Silver Sand island are home to 200 families. Defects to the structures range from alterations in approved design to use of substandard construction materials.
The flats began to develop breakdowns barely one year of construction. OF the three high-rises, two with 28 storey are in serious jeopardy. The residents are mostly ex-servicemen or their extended families. The flats were handed over in 2018.
It started at first with layers of concrete flaking off the pillars and ceilings in the basement. In time, the much upper floors too started to peel out, laying bare rusty wires and the residents grew anxious.
The buildings were constructed under supervision of senior Army chiefs by the Army Welfare Housing Organisation(AWHO) registered under the Societies Act. In line with the contract, the contractors scrambled to patch up the flaking. But that hardly helped.
As erosion worsened, Bureau Veritas India Pvt Ltd(BVIL) was hired to make technical evaluation and their report was shocking. The iron rods used in construction were rusting and fast causing concrete to loosen and fall - a situation, the report said, was dangerous to the residents’ lives. The water used for construction contained high amounts of salt(chloride) leading to the rusty condition and quality of materials used were substandard, the report read.
The Thiruvananthapuram Engineering College submitted similar findings up on their inspections in 2022 and underscored that the condition was irreversible. BVIL put the lifespan of the building for no longer than 8 - 10 years.
The flat on an average cost around Rs 75 lakhs each. The run-ins with Coastal Management Act was a headache right from the beginning. Several families have vacated in panic. A few approached the court for immediate demolitions.
