KOCHI: Construction of the 12-storey building at Kaloor was in the stage of building basement floors when the concrete piling pillars collapsed on Thursday night. The building was being made for a showroom of a textile outlet Soil was to be excavated almost 9 metres from ground level for the construction of two basement floors, said a spokesperson of the textile outlet. The excavation was going on after cordoning off the area by immersing shore piles Concrete pillars as tall as 30 metres were immersed adjacent to each other as part of a process to build a wall-like structure around the proposed construction site at the marshy land. A concrete beam was constructed on top of the walllike structure as well. Pillars were also immersed in the site, which are connected to the concrete wall using iron rafters.On Thursday night, the wall shoring piles adjacent to the Banerjee Road and the Kochi Metro sank into the construction site. With the land caving in around the area, the girders and concrete pillars also collapsed. Shore piles that collapsed were driven to the ground around six months ago.On Friday morning, what one could witness on the site was a huge crater with five earth movers and a crane buried partially in mud and the collapsed shore piles. A three-storey furnished apartment, acquired by the textile company, is on the verge of collapse as it on the edge of the crater.Over 500 shoring piles were erected in the site and at least 20 of them have tumbled.Employees of the textile company said that impact caused by frequent movement of vehicles along the road and Metro trains through elevated pillars were felt at the construction site regularly. “It seems like the constant movement affected the stability of the soil and subsequently the shore piles,” said the employees. Since the shoring piles on all other sides remain intact, the mishap was not due to faults in piling activity, they claimed.Mining and geology department officials who inspected the site confirmed that works were being undertaken with their requisite permission.“Soil in the area is a mix of sand and clay. There is a possibility of slurry formation in case of seepage or increase in moisture,” said an official.Employees of the textiles firm said that they were planning to demolish the adjacent building, which they had already acquired. “The building is now in a dangerous state. We had plans to demolish it for entrance to the main building. It is likely to be demolished considering the piling collapse,” said an employee.

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