Bengaluru building collapse: Build, but safety first

Bengaluru has seen a steady stream of news regarding buildings collapsing in the past few months. Across the city, the blame for these collapses is being increasingly put on monsoon rains. However it is important to take note of the fact that buildings are designed and constructed to withstand all kinds of climatic excesses. The question remains, why do we continue to witness such failures?

The city has served as India’s technology capital for over three decades, and has seen unparalleled growth and urban sprawl. This rapid growth has resulted in an increasing lack of accountability, further augmented by a number of factors, including ever changing government policies.

Akrama-Sakrama

In the 1990s, the JD(S) government introduced the Akrama-Sakrama scheme to regularise illegal structures, hoping to secure easy revenue through regularisation fees. The Bangalore Metropolitan Task Force (BMTF), the very unit set up to protect government properties and keep a vigil on corrupt officials and underhanded activity, was systematically dismantled.

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The Akrama-Sakrama scheme was eventually declared untenable by the Supreme Court. The lack of a clear directive has had an adverse effect on the quality of the built environment that regulations have failed to counter. The existing bye-laws contain provisions that are no longer applicable to the city, while others remain ambiguous. Many circulars and notifications have been issued as additions to the bye-laws, however a responsible updated document is yet to be released and enforced effectively.

Existing building regulations (Building Byelaws 2003) make it mandatory for builders to submit a list of documents to acquire a licence and a sanction for the building plan. The builder then gets a Commencement Certificate (CC) to begin construction, and an Occupancy Certificate (OC) after completion of the project. The municipality’s ward engineer is expected to inspect the project and ensure there are no deviations from the original sanctioned plan.

Rules disregarded

Even though obtaining OC and No Objection Certificates (NOC) from the authorities is the first step to apply for service connections (BESCOM, BWSSB, fire and emergency services), the rules are often disregarded and properties obtain these connections without any checks and balances. The process is solely revenue-focussed, often at the cost of safety.

Larger developers are known to play by the rules set by the authorities since the approval of home loans for large scale developments is dependent on the issuance of authorised permissions. With smaller builders, while the law mandates the employment of certified engineers and architects, this is often overlooked and contractors make assumptions in the planning of a building based on their experience; often at the detriment of homeowners.

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FAR violations

While there are detailed legislations in place to govern the city’s structures and growth, implementation has been patchy. Widespread misuse of building bye-laws, designated Floor Area Ratio (FAR) and unauthorised additions has resulted in larger buildings, modified over time, resulting in unsafe construction.

The current process runs on a mutual benefit basis that supports and even encourages such violations. The lack of enforcement and accountability is also seen in the approximately 638 villages under the Bruhath Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) limits, where there is no trace of any regulations related to buildings.

While safety should always be paramount, it is imperative for the authorities to issue regulations that are specific to wards and specific to the urban morphology of the city. A universal flat FAR is not the answer, and the city has long outgrown this principle. Standardised processes for structural stability certificates by a certified structural engineer should be enforced.

Other cities

Other cities have taken active steps to ensure that safety standards are maintained long after a building is built. Under Section 353B2 of the Mumbai Municipal Corporation (MMC) Act 1888, it is obligatory for every owner and occupier of buildings more than 30 years old to have them inspected every 10 years by qualified structural engineers registered with the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai. In addition, structural audits of buildings older than 15 years were approved by the Maharashtra legislature in 2007.

Additionally, the government also has to play a central role in the provision of affordable housing to control illegal construction. This needs to cover housing, both for ownership and for rent. It must invest, encourage and promote the construction of good, affordable housing. This will marginalise rather than centralise illegal constructions which can be prevented through proper policing.

The collapse of a building, even after it has been reinforced according to our existing skeletal safety standards and regulatory framework of the country, is symptomatic of a regulatory and monitoring failure more than anything else.

Establishing separate agencies, one to issue sanction plans and permissions and the second to enforce regulations as per permissions issued may provide a dependable solution to ensure accountability. This will be a crucial step to achieve significant and long-lasting changes in the city’s future growth.

(The author is an architect and urban designer)