Ahmedabad builder dug on despite a stop-work order, residents say, then the ground under two housing blocks gave way
KHP Realty LLP dug foundation pits in Ahmedabad's Gota area without an approved plan, and residents say the digging went on after an Oct. 14 stop-work notice. Soil and compound walls then slid away at the Shayona Tilak-3 and Tilak-4 housing societies, and two blocks were evacuated.
The site is plot 133 in Gota's town planning scheme No. 33, a commercial parcel that the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) auctioned and KHP Realty LLP bought, Gujarat Samachar reported. The developer applied for plan approval for a project called Park View. Those plans were not approved and the city issued no commencement permission, yet heavy foundation excavation began anyway.
According to the AMC estate department, inspectors found the unauthorized digging and on Oct. 14 served a Section 267 notice under the Gujarat Provincial Municipal Corporations Act, ordering work to stop at once. Residents of Shayona Tilak say the excavation carried on. Deep pits along the boundary eventually let the neighboring ground slide, the subsidence reached the foundation of one block, and police and fire crews moved families out of two blocks.
An AMC estate officer acknowledged to Sandesh that the site had been excavated without an approved plan and said work had been stopped earlier. The city now allows only a protection wall and leveling. Every other activity on the site is halted. The AMC has served a show-cause notice asking the developer why its permission application should not be rejected, and has asked the developer, the engineer, the clerk of works and the supervisor who signed the plan application why their licenses should not be canceled. The officer said further legal and penal steps would follow after consultation with higher authorities.
Neither report mentions injuries. The reports do not say how deep the pits were, whether any shoring was in place, or when residents of the two blocks can return.
Why it matters: Excavating next to occupied buildings needs an approved shoring design, and a stop-work notice has to stop the machines. In Ahmedabad the engineer, supervisor and clerk of works who signed the plan now face license action along with the developer.
Sources
- AMC Responds to Gota Land Cave-In, Says Unauthorized Excavation Was StoppedSandesh, Nov 1
- Ahmedabad Builder Digs Hole Without Approval, Two Gota Society Blocks Evacuated as Land Caves InGujarat Samachar, Nov 1