With the monsoon approaching, the BMC’s building proposals department has written to all developers to take whatever steps are necessary at their construction sites in order to avoid any mishaps or outbreak of disease. The chief engineer of the Development Plan (DP) Sunil Rathod said the circular was issued to all building sites as well as sent online to developers and their apex body, the Maharashtra Chamber of Housing Industry.
After the three site cave-ins reported last year, the BMC has mandated that builders must not carry out excavation work during the monsoon until all the necessary precautionary and safety measures are adopted on site under the guidance of their appointed structural engineers and safety officers. This is so that no accident occurs not only on the construction site but also adjoining properties.
Apart from excavations, there are regulations for other civil work as well, carried out under the guidance of the builders’ structural engineers, geotechnical engineers and safety officers—they have been instructed to check the safety and stability of barricading, scaffolding, safety nets, machinery and cranes.
Developers have also been instructed by the DP department to see that there is no accumulation of water and debris in and around construction sites to prevent mosquitoes from breeding and spreading malaria and dengue. Regular blood tests and medical check-ups have to be arranged for labourers on site either by developers or the BMC’s public health department. The developers have also been told to give mosquito nets to all labourers and get pest control treatment done by the BMC ward staff or a private agency.
Apart from this, builders have to make sure that temporary structures, transit camps, hoardings, site barricades, tower cranes, steel structures and parking structures on a site are made structurally sound and safe. Wherever strengthening is required, it has to be carried out under the instructions of a registered structural engineer.
Developers have also been instructed to barricade all excavation areas and take all safety measures on the site. Landslide-prone areas are to be kept under strict vigilance. The safety officer and architect have to verify whether all the mandated precautionary measures have been taken.
Senior architect Manoj Daisaria said that the same instructions needed to be extended to housing societies and land owners. “They should take precautions with regard to hoardings, trees and so on to avoid mishaps,” he said.
Source: hindustantimes.com