With the sheer scale of the disaster practically at his doorstep, Speaker of the Assembly Metbah Lyngdoh said today that an independent inquiry should be constituted into the collapse of the under-construction dome at the new Assembly building.
Speaking to reporters, Lyngdoh said that it was an unfortunate incident and that he was personally disappointed as he had attended numerous review meetings to check the progress of construction and there was no indication that such a disaster was waiting to happen. The Speaker had recently said that the new Assembly would be inaugurated in September, though this timeline is now in doubt.
Lyngdoh will inspect the site of the massive embarrassment tomorrow morning and has also invited Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma to accompany him. The chief consultant, from New Delhi, will join the Speaker on the site inspection.
Lyngdoh said that it is still too early to say what was the reason for the dome’s collapse but he has his theories. Fortunately, the collapse occurred at around midnight. If it had happened during the daytime, the lives of workmen could well have been lost.
“As far as my understanding is concerned, the reason may be a fault in the design or it could be faulty construction,” he said.
He added that he has spoken to engineers and the Delhi consultant but was not satisfied with their explanations.
Besides the need for an inquiry, the Speaker also wants a third party audit of the rest of the building that still stands to ascertain whether there was further damage to the structure.
Nevertheless, he is still hoping for completion of the building as soon as possible. “This incident should not hold us back, we have to complete this project, if not this year then early next year,” Lyngdoh said.
