Use of substandard construction material blamed for incident Amritsar, August 17 A ground portion under the stairs at the newly constructed Municipal Corporation (MC) head office building at Ranjit Avenue caved in due to heavy rain on Friday evening. The building was constructed a half and two years ago. No one sustained injuries. The incident has raised questions on the quality of the construction material. The then deputy chief minister Sukhbir Singh Badal had inaugurated the building in November 2016. Employees often complain about substandard material used for the construction of the building. In June 2018, a portion of the same building got damaged after a dust storm hit the city. The storm left a large number of tiles on the outer walls broken, which inflicted damages on the outdoor units of split air conditioners. Ironically, instead of conducting a fair inquiry into the usage of substandard material and poor workmanship, MC officials try to cover up the issue. MC officials deployed workers to repair the damaged portion of the MC building. No other damage has been reported to the building. Meanwhile, normal life remains out of gear due to torrential rains in the holy city. Almost all the major roads witnessed waterlogging. Commuters faced inconvenience and faced traffic jams. Mukesh Sehgal, a resident of the walled city, said, “It is a flood-like situation in and around the city. The municipality did not clean sewer lines which led to waterlogging." Narinder Sandhu, another resident, said, “It is not a new story. The sewer infrastructure is unable to drain out rainwater. A heavy downpour can exacerbate the situation." Mayor Karamjit Singh Rintu constituted a committee of civil wing officials to look into the defects and shortcomings regarding the building. He reportedly scolded the contractor and asked to repair the damage immediately.

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