BENGALURU: A portion of the lintel on the third and fourth floor on the rear side of Mantri Square Mall on Sampige Road in Malleswaram came crashing, sending shoppers and mall authorities running for cover on Monday afternoon.
Mantri Mall, built over 1.7 million square feet and was thrown open to the public in 2010, greeted its 100 millionth customer with much fanfare in December last year. Just a month after achieving this milestone, the mall on Monday had to be evacuated completely as a portion of the rear-side of the mall collapsed injuring two women house-keeping staff. One of whom was identified as Lakshmamma (45). More people are suspected to have suffered injuries, but details are awaited.
As a safety measure, all those inside the mall were evacuated immediately and gas connection inside the mall was cut off.
What happened on Monday
Around 1.45 pm on Monday, a portion of parapet on the rear side of the mall collapsed injuring four. While the exact cause of the collapse is yet to be ascertained, BBMP officials after a preliminary investigation said that the wall would have dampened for long because of water dripping from air conditioner ducts.
Over a period of time, the dampened wall has lost its strength to stand and collapsed, they said. But they also suspect structural issues behind the collapse.
Occupancy certificate taken
Immediately after the collapse, Mr Manjunath Prasad withdrew the occupancy certificate issued to the mall. “We have ordered a probe. Once we get the report, action will be taken. Till then, there will no permission for any kind of commercial activity at the mall. Only after the owners prove that safety measures have been taken will we reissue them the OC,” he said. The probe will look into the causes for the wall collapse and the quality of the construction material used.
Troubles never end for this mall
Controversy never ends with Mantri Square – located in Malleswaram. The mall was in the news for alleged encroachment over a stormwater drain soon after construction began. Even before its official inauguration, the BBMP standing committee on major works in 2009 deployed an earthmover to raze the compound wall of property.
However, mall authorities obtained a stay and the main structure remained. In 2011, a portion of the compound wall and a walk ramp in the front were demolished by authorities, citing traffic congestion on Sampige Road.
Recently following a HC direction to identify and demolish properties sitting on stormwater drains, allegations were doing the rounds that the mall could have encroached a drain.
BBMP Commissioner Manjunath Prasad, who visited the spot on Monday after the parapet collapsed, said that he has ordered a drain network survey and that action would be taken if the mall is sitting over a stormwater drain.
