Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation stress on safety, quality

Almost 1,000-1,500 apartments come up annually in Vizag city and hundreds of builders are involved in construction activity.

Sporadic mishaps in the city are making people focus on the dubious quality standards of such structures.

“We have already started awareness sessions for both builders and personnel at the grassroot level with the support of experts from Andhra University on the significance of the quality of material, supervision and technical standards to be followed. We are also planning to conduct more technical sessions especially on Sundays,” said P. Bhogeswara Rao, president of Visakha Apartment Builders Association.

Accidents may occur rarely but builders have to understand the reasons behind it to avoid it in the future, he added.

GVMC officials are also planning to organise coordination meetings of builders and officials, and hold workshops by experts for understanding the need for safe structures. Joint collector and in-charge Commissioner of GVMC, Pravin Kumar said they would hereafter strictly adhere to norms while giving permissions to construction activity in the city.

“The town planning department basically insists on all required documents like plans and other credentials as per law. One cannot supervise the quality of structures in the entire city. In case of violation by any builder we take action according to existing Acts and also book criminal cases against them. Still, we plan to organise session by experts from Andhra University,” said Pravin Kumar, adding that soils in some areas are sandy and extra precautions need to be taken in such cases during construction.