Shillong: The dome of the under-construction new Meghalaya Assembly building at Mawdiangdiang collapsed due to its weight, according to IIT Guwahati, which was probing the incident.
The IIT Guwahati report also stated the lack of coordination between designers and contractors as another factor that led to the dome collapse.
Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma on Friday said there was a lack of coordination between agencies implementing the project.
“In the first case, the finding of the IIT-Guwahati was that because of the action of the dead weight alone which means the overall weight of the entire dome was too heavy for it to sustain,” Sangma said.
There was a lack of coordination between the different agencies during the implementation of the design. Had it not been so, the situation would not have occurred, he added.
Meanwhile, the findings of the IIT-Guwahati were submitted to the High-Powered Committee (HPC) of the Meghalaya Legislative Committee on Friday. The HPC has sought an explanation from the designers and the contractors, and based on it the committee will decide the further course of action.
The chief minister further said, “As per the report, the final finding of the report was that the rest of the building was safe. The structural and foundational strengths were found to be as per standards.”
The HPC has instructed the government to immediately call the designers and the contractors and ask for an explanation based on the findings.
“Based on the explanation, the government will come up with its suggestions which would be placed in the next HPC meeting. The HPC will go through the explanation of the stakeholders and action will be taken accordingly. Assembly Speaker Metbah Lyngdoh, who is the HPC chairman, has suggested that the HPC should sit by the next week or within ten days,” Sangma added.
The report has suggested that the dome structure should be replaced with a light steel tubular truss structure covered with CGI sheet.
He said, “The IIT-G, in the report, stated that if the government decides to go ahead with the dome’s structure, then it should be of lighter weight, which means the structure can still be a dome but should be much lighter compared to the 4.5 lakh kg dome of concrete and steel structure.”
He said the final decision will be taken by the HPC after going through the explanation of the stakeholders.
Also read | India, China to complete disengagement at PP-15 in three days: MEA