Prompt action is called for from the concerned authorities to uncover the real cause for the collapse of the five story building in Sangamitta Mawatha Kandy which snuffed out the lives of a young couple and their 40 day old infant in a house below into to which the giant edifice caved in. This is because there is the very real danger of other structures too built haphazardly without due sanction on precarious terrain meeting with a similar fate with further loss of lives. Steps should also be taken,immediately, to identify other similar vulnerable spots in the hill country and residents evacuated. An immediate halt too should also be called to sanctioning all constructions in the hill country until all contingencies are put in place and the areas declared safe following due inspection by experts.
The Bar Association of Sri Lanka (BASL) has already called on the Acting IGP to conduct a thorough probe into the building collapse in Kandy not because the lady who died was one of its members but also because such incidents are starting to become all too common. It points to the building that collapsed in Wellawatte near the Savoy theatre, some years ago, in similar fashion, but after the initial flurry of investigations the matter had been dropped altogether. The BASL warning should be taken with the seriousness it deserves since it is now been reported that some 50 percents of the contructions in the Kandy, Nuwara-eliya and Matale districts have been erected on slopes on loose soil that could meet with the same fate of the collapsed building in Kandy.
There are of course the usual claims and counter claims.While the owner of the collapsed building vouch that he had obtained the standard authorization and the building constructed confirming to all the laid down regulations, investigations are being conducted to ascertain whether the original plan of the structure had been changed. According to Geological Survey and Mines Bureau Director Udaya de Silva, the foundation of the ill fated building had not been built with sufficient strength to hold five stories, while Senior Chartered Geologist Laksiri Indratilake had told a newspaper that the collapsed building was an ad-hoc construction which had been erected blocking a valley path across which water flows from above. It has also been revealed that, not just residences, but even roads in the hill country have been built across slopes. One dreads to think of the terrible disaster beckoning when considering that heavy vehicular traffic including monster trucks and containers ply on these roads on a regular basis.Would these roads be able to continually withstand the strain? According to Peradeniya Senior Professer Athula Senaratne, the compulsory inspection of buildings built on the slopes by the National Building Research Association came into effect only after 2011, hence there is an urgent need to pay attention to the buildings contstructed on slopes prior to that which could be vulnerable.
In the meantime steps have been taken to evacuate residents from the immediate vicinity as a precautionary measure pending a full investigation as to the vulnerability of the area.
Be that as it may, the Kandy incident should be an eyeopener to the authorities for ensuring that the laid down regulations are strictly adhered to before constructions are permitted not just in the hill country but elsewhere as well.It is well known how plans are drawn up for buildings and residences after greasing the palms of the local authorities and the approval obtained. The building that collapsed in Wellawatte too had passed muster in this fashion. The attention of the authorities should also focus on illegal structures and squatter dwellings that dot the city landscape that are a major contributory factor for flooding.True, construction of buildings go hand in hand with development but care should be taken to have them built in a planed manner after following expert opinion and due sanction.
The hill country had long been at the receiving end of the vagaries of the environment, or, to be precise, environmental destruction.The ecological imbalance could also lead to disasters of the type witnessed in Kandy.Therefore a probe should also be conducted to ascertain if the environment destruction could also have a hand in the type of vulnerabilities pinpointed by the Building Construction Research Organization and other experts. The tremors that recently occurred in Kandy where huge cracks appeared in the walls of residences were attributed by some to a nearby limestone quarry. Similarly, large scale soil erosion resulting from sand mining and other damage caused to the environment could also lead to the risk of buildings caving in like in Kandy.
Hence, there is an immediate needs to clamp down on such destructive act and offenders punished irrespective of their positions or political affiliations.The recent destruction of forest land and clearing of marshes and mangroves for commercial purposes by elements with political backing, needles to say, is going to have dire repercussions on the environment and ecological balance.It behoves on the leaders of this country to bequeath a nation in all its natural beauty and splendour to the future generations so that they may enjoy its bounty to the fullest.
