Cables dangle dangerously, iron rods poke out from the roof and concrete rubble lie on the floor as a portion of Bengaluru’s Mantri mall’s parapet came crashing down on the third floor on Monday. The impact of the damage to the structure in the rear end of the building was such that the concrete rubble fell on all the floors.
The incident occurred at around 3.15 pm in Malleswaram and two of the mall’s janitorial staff sustained minor injuries. They were taken to KC General Hospital for treatment.
What is worrying however is why the roof of the six-year-old mall collapsed.
“The air conditioning pipe was damaged due to which water had filled up inside the AC duct. A part of the parapet on the two floors collapsed after it was weakened due to the moisture and the accumulated water,” said Anand, a fireman deployed at the Malleshwaram Fire Station.
The officer also said that after the roof collapsed, a portion of the wall too came crumbling down.
“Everyone inside the mall were evacuated immediately and the gas connection inside the mall has been cut off as a precautionary measure”, the officer said.
The Malleshwaram police and six fire officers visited the spot to conduct an inspection.
BBMP Commissioner Manjunath Prasad told media persons that the occupancy certificate has been withdrawn and the mall has been shut down. “The mall owners will have to prove that the safety precautions are adequate and that everything they said while obtaining the occupancy certificate has been maintained. The mall will be closed from now on till they can prove its safe,” he said.
“It is a fifteen-year-old construction, we don’t know if there were any encroachments. We will know this only after investigation,” said Padmavathi, Bengaluru Mayor.
MLA Dinesh Gundu Rao, while addressing the media, said that appropriate action would be taken if Mantri Mall had flouted construction norms.
Bengaluru Metro was forced to suspend operations along that stretch for a while following the accident.
In 2016, Mantri Mall was one of 18 malls served notices by the Fire and Safety Department for violating norms for fire safety.
(Pictures from @wearebangalore Twitter handle).