Shimla
The Shimla district administration has sought an expert team from IIT Roorkee to investigate cracks and other damage reported in houses located above an under-construction twin tunnel in the Sanjauli-Cemetery area.
A meeting chaired by Deputy Commissioner Shimla Anupam Kashyap was held on Monday to review the situation and discuss measures to address the concerns of residents living in the affected area.It was decided that officials of the Revenue Department would identify houses requiring repairs. The construction company will subsequently prepare a repair plan for the identified properties. Officials of the Public Works Department (PWD) will inspect the quality and completion of the repair work, which will be considered complete only after verification by the department.
The administration has also ordered an assessment of houses located within approximately 100 metres of the twin tunnels to determine whether they have suffered any damage linked to the ongoing construction.The inspection will be carried out in three stages. The first will cover houses located above the 11-metre-wide twin tunnels, followed by those within the 20-metre-wide tunnel section. The third phase will cover houses located within 30 metres on either side of the tunnels.
The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) informed the meeting that no blasting is currently being carried out as part of the tunnel construction.However, the district administration has suspended, with immediate effect, the blasting permit issued to the construction company.
The administration has requested IIT Roorkee to constitute an expert team to conduct a scientific and technical assessment of the cracks reported in the houses. The team is expected to inspect the affected structures, examine the possible causes of the damage and recommend precautions and safety measures for the ongoing tunnel construction.
Officials from the administration, NHAI, construction companies and other departments attended the meeting.Additional District Magistrate (Law and Order) Pankaj Sharma, Additional District Magistrate (Protocol) Gyan Sagar Negi, SDM Shimla Rural Manjeet Sharma, NHAI Project Director Anand Kumar and Deputy Manager Sumit Bansal, along with representatives of the construction agencies and revenue officials, were present.
The district administration said it has been monitoring the situation since receiving information about cracks in the houses. An ADM and SDM team had earlier visited the affected area and inspected the houses. On Monday, the Deputy Commissioner, Superintendent of Police Shimla, Additional District Magistrate (Protocol), SDM Shimla Rural and other officials also visited the site.
The officials interacted with residents and took stock of their concerns. The Deputy Commissioner assured residents that the administration was treating the matter seriously and that the safety of people and their properties would remain a priority. Officials will continue to monitor the affected structures and take further measures based on the findings of the inspection.
