The building at Ejipura that tilted on Wednesday after its ground pillars began to crack. more-in A five-storey building in the narrow bylanes of Ejipura tilted dangerously on Wednesday morning as the pillars of the building, constructed recently and illegally on a 800-sq.ft. site, began to buckle. Around 5 a.m., residents heard a series of cracks and saw the building resting on a smaller house adjacent to it. They contacted emergency personnel, who evacuated the people living in the vicinity. “We had given permission only to construct the ground floor and one floor above. The quality of material used for construction is not good either,” said Srinivas Reddy, the local Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) engineer. However, the owner — now absconding — illegally extended the building upwards and as a result, the ground floor pillar has developed cracks. Residents say the building was completed just a week ago and Ramesh, the owner, was waiting for an auspicious date for the house-warming ceremony. After this, the houses were to be rented out. Among those evacuated were the families living in a small house constructed by a Mohammad Wajihah. “The rent from this is our main source of income. The building is tilting and resting on our house. If it collapses, we will lose our house and livelihood,” he said. To be razed After a visit by BBMP engineers, it was decided that the building would be demolished. “It will take three days to completely demolish the building. Around 25 men will manually break through the top two floors to lower the load on the pillars. After this, heavy machinery can demolish the rest,” said M.H. Krishna Murthy, the contractor in charge of the demolition. Ramalinga Reddy, Transport Minister and the local area MLA, said the area was a deep ditch and the building was built over it haphazardly, without the required strengthening of the foundation. “Many such buildings have come up here, and these violations have increased as rents have gone up in the area. Despite BBMP engineers being warned, such buildings with illegal floors have managed to come up,” he said. The congested bylanes of the area host numerous illegal buildings of five storeys or more. M. Chandrasekar, Inspector General (Fire Force), said a small team will be on standby at the spot. “The building is around 21 metres tall. We will file a report on the illegalities of high-rises (buildings taller than 15 m, which need a no-objection certificate from the Fire Department) in the area,” he said. The Vivek Nagar police have registered a case against the owner, contractor and BBMP engineer.

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