'Weight of new water tank crushed Poonam Chambers'

Poonam Chambers collapsed on September 16 when water was being filled in the huge new overhead water tank which was constructed illegally, said a source who is part of the fact-finding commission probing the mishap.

The tank, with a capacity of 80,000 litres, was being filled on September 16 at around 11.30 am. The weight of the water increased the pressure on the terrace slab till, after the tank was full at around 2 pm, the part beneath the tank sank. The falling tank hit the remaining part of the slab, forcing it down farther. The inertia of the falling mass pushed it right through the building, according to the source.

He pointed out that water kept dripping in the basement, where the Standard Chartered Bank is located, even half-an-hour after the collapse.

Water was being raised to the overhead tank to check its ability to withstand stress and pressure. Even now, water is filled in the basement of the building. No one has given a satisfactory explanation for its presence.

It is already known that the contractor applied a new slab without scraping out the earlier one. The decision to construct an overhead water tank with a capacity of 80,000 litres was taken when the water-proofing work was in progress by the co-operative society’s board members.

Construction work was carried on in Poonam Chambers, B wing, without consulting the architect and design experts who built the structure. The same contractor was also given the job to water-proof the terrace.

It is impossible that BMC engineers could have not known about the construction of such a huge tank. But no one raised any objections.

The pillars of Poonam Chambers in the east, west and south should have collapsed earlier had the building been hollow and rickety. But they didn’t. According to the source, only the central portion collapsed because of the heavy pressure on the struts.

Compiled by Prasanna Zore from the Marathi media