The Hindu       20.12.2010

Retaining wall of another building collapses

VISAKHAPATNAM: In a near repeat of Thursday's incident and further raising safety concerns, the retaining wall of the building next to the Vaibhav Hills Apartments at Marripalem VUDA Layout collapsed on Sunday evening. Fortunately, the five-storied building is under construction and has no inhabitants, according to officials who visited the scene late on Sunday evening.

The incident occurred around 7.30 p.m. There were no casualties, said Circle Inspector K. Prabhakar who visited the site.

Chief Engineer B. Jayarami Reddy and Chief City Planner D. Venkataratnam rushed to the spot.

Mr. Venkataratnam said the collapse occurred mainly because the technical process was not followed in the construction of the retaining wall.

The wall collapsed with the filled material bursting out and exposing the pillars also, he said.

As a matter of precaution notices would be issued to the residents of the neighbouring building to vacate it.

Further, the Commissioner had instructed the Chief Engineering to seek advice of technical experts on addressing the issue.