Miraculous escape for apartment residents
It was a providential escape for 25 families living in a five-storied apartment complex. The residents of Vaibhav Hills apartment at Marripalem VUDA Colony woke up with a jolt at 4. 30 a.m. when a passerby noticed the retaining wall giving way and alerted them. The slippage of red soil on the rear side of the plot resulted in partial damage of the cement floor in the cellar and exposed the 10-foot-long rear pillars of the apartment complex. The pillars of the buildings seemed to be firmly entrenched to the ground, thus averting a major tragedy.
All the 25 families, residing in the flats, were evicted and the government authorities ordered fitness tests to the structure.The 15-ft stone retaining wall was built at the backside of the apartment to give support to the structure from the 20-ft deep pit. The impact was such that Vaibhav Apartments, a five-year-old structure in Visakhapatnam Urban Development Authority approved layout, leaned back slightly after cracks developed in the pillars.
Vaibhav Hills Apartment Owners Welfare Association secretary S. Alla Bhakshu and vice-president A.K. Babu said that cracks in the cellar floor and the retaining wall joints were first noticed more than two years ago after the rear side plot owner excavated his plot and the 10-feet road partially in August 2008.The matter had been taken to the notice of the GVMC on several occasions but there was no action for a long time. In March 2009, the GVMC issued a notice to the rear plot owner to construct a supporting wall to save the adjacent building.
Source:
The Hindu
Times of India
building collapsed, Lucky escape for 25 families, Marripalem VUDA Colony, Miraculous escape, residents of Vaibhav Hills apartment, retaining wall of apartment collapsed, Visakhapatnam
