HPC appoints third party to probe into dome collapse incident

The meeting of the HPC was chaired by Assembly Speaker Metbah Lyngdoh and attended by Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma, Leader of Opposition Mukul Sangma, PWD (Buildings) Minister Dasakhiat Lamare and others.

A site inspection was also conducted by the heads of the executive and legislative wings of the state government in presence of the engineers, consultants and contractors.

The dome structure of the main Assembly building collapsed on Sunday morning, just four-five months before its inauguration. The incident has led to growing demand for a CBI probe not only from opposition parties but from the BJP, which is part and parcel of the MDA government.

After the meeting, Lyngdoh told reporters that the HPC has discussed at length about the incident and has decided to appoint a third party which will audit and submit a report on the reason behind the collapse of the dome structure.

“They (third party) will also investigate the collapse of the dome and at the same time they will also look into the strength of the left wing, the right wing, the corridor of the main hall, the reception area, the chamber of the Speaker and the Chief Minister and others which are in that floor, also those which are on the ground floor and in the basement if there is any,” he said.

Lyngdoh said that the HPC has suggested that the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) should be involved in auditing of the building adding that the names of three have been shortlisted which include IIT Guwahati, IIT Kolkata and IIT Delhi.

“Any of the three IITs will be selected and it will depend on the readiness of these IITs who will be conducting this audit and investigation as far as this case is concerned. We have given the task to the PWD (Buildings) to officially communicate to these IITs,” he said.

The Speaker also directed that the reports should be submitted at the earliest so that the next course of action will follow.

He also announced that the construction works in the main Assembly building have come to an immediate halt till the audit team submits their report.

Lyngdoh also informed that the debris accumulated at the central hall will remain as it is. “We will not allow anyone to remove that debris. Only after the IIT appointed by the department suggested or advised us, we can remove those debris…,” he added.

Further, the HPC has also decided not to allow outsiders or unauthorized persons to enter the building due to safety measures and to cover the open area that has been created after the collapse of the dome to ensure there is no water leakage in the building.

Asked, the Speaker said, “The next course of action  or the next HPC meeting will be convened after we get the report from the audit team. As of now, it is very premature for us to take such a decision or action (against anybody).”

Lyngdoh also claimed that he is not aware if construction works of the Assembly can be subcontracted to other companies and said, “Those are technical part of the agreement I think we have to look into the agreement it is there or not I am not aware as that has been done by the PWD (Buildings).”

Clarifying on this, PWD (Buildings) Minister Dasakhiat Lamare informed  that basically it is allowed but only a small percentage. “

In this particular project, 40% of the project is allowed to subcontract to a different company for the construction,” he stated.

By Our Reporter