Is your Building Earthquake proof? Read this. . .
Gujarat
State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission observed that, it
is on record
that after the earthquake
the Gujarat
High Court had appointed an expert committee of engineers and architects and secretary of
the public works department. This report of the experts proves that the complaint’s apartment was damaged due to substandard material. In the Argument the opponents (builders) had pleaded
that the Apartments
have been destroyed
due to act of God.
On this the State Commission observed that “if that
was the case then all the buildings
in the area and the vicinity
would have collapsed. It was sheer negligence on the part of the opponent".
A Landmark Judgment has been passed by the Gujarat
State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission, S. G. Highway,
Gota, Ahmedabad granting compensation
to the residents
after the building
collapsed in an earthquake,
in-depth analysis by Adv. R. P. Rathod.
After a long fight
of more than ELEVEN
YEARS for justice, 40 Flat
purchasers of Sangemarmar
Apartments, which collapsed
during the earthquake of 2001 at Ahmedabad, will
receive compensation
from the builders who are held responsible
for the tragedy says Adv. R. P. Rathod.
He says that this is
a landmark
judgment in which the Gujarat State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission
has ordered the builders
of Sangemarmar Apartments, to pay
varying amounts of compensations
for the Building collapse
around Rs 35 lakh each to residents of the flats who complained that the building tumble down because of the poor
quality of material used by the builders
at the time of
construction. In all, the builders M/s
Shreenath Corporation will have to shell
out over Rs 14 crore to the resident of Sangemarmar Apartments towards the mishap.
Adv. R.
P. Rathod. Says that the State
Commission has ordered M/s
Shreenath Corporation to pay 40 residents of Sangemarmar Apartments an approximate amount
of Rs 18.5
lakhs along with an interest of around Rs 16.5 lakh (9%
interest from January 26, 2001). M/s
Shreenath Corporation is a partnership
firm consisting of with four
partners including the firm itself, Mr.
Bharat Shah, his wife Preeti Shah and their son who is a minor. A total
of 14 cases were filed by 40 residents of the Sangemarmar apartments that collapsed.
Sangemarmar Apartments, was one of the various apartments that collapsed
on January 26, 2001 when the earthquake
struck parts of Gujarat
(the other buildings
which were collapsed
were Narayan
Apartments, Om Apartments, Purvi Apartments & CRB House). It was situated at Ambawadi – Polytechnic
(Ahmedabad). Immediately
after the earthquake
Fire broke out in the Sangemarmar
Apartments. At the time of mishap
this building was hardly 10 years old. In this mishap more than 10 Residents of the building died during the collapse. The complainants will also be compensated with varying amounts for lost of family members, lost of body limbs, damage to vehicles and others property loses. Prior to
January 26 2001, Ahmedabad was categorized as “ZONE IV”. This
zone is called the “High
Damage Risk Zone” and covers
areas liable to MSK VIII (Medvedev-Sponheuer-Karnik Scale). The MSK scale has 12 intensity degrees expressed in Roman
numerals (to prevent
the use of decimals)
The IS code assigns zone factor of 0.24 for Zone IV. The construction
in this area was therefore
required to be made
in view of the possibility
of the earthquake.
Adv. R.
P. Rathod says that the
earthquake of January 26 2001 was the worst quake that had hit the country, this earthquake
was considered even worse than the quake which had hit Latur in Maharashtra. In this earthquake the death
toll was beyond
15,000.
Gujarat
State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission observed that, it
is on record
that after the earthquake
the Gujarat
High Court had appointed an expert committee of engineers and architects and secretary of
the public works department. This report of the experts proves that the complaint’s apartment was damaged due to substandard material. In the Argument the opponents (builders) had pleaded
that the Apartments
have been destroyed
due to act of God.
On this the State Commission observed that “if that
was the case then all the buildings
in the area and the vicinity
would have collapsed. It was sheer negligence on the part of the opponent".
Adv. R.
P. Rathod. observes that this judgment has laid two important judicial precedents, (1) Compensation
from the Builders can be claimed even after elapse of 10 years
and (2) Consumers
are eligible to claim compensation
in case their building collapses due to Earthquake or any other natural calamity. He says that "Builders
are service providers and it is their duty to provide the best for their Consumers”
The judgment awarded in this matter will pave the
way for speedy compensation for many earthquake victims who have been fighting years together for their due
in various consumer
forums and courts across the country
concludes Adv. R. P. Rathod.
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