CDA to examine building designs

The Chittagong Development Authority (CDA) has completed a primary inspection and identified nine buildings in different areas of the port city that tilted slightly due to Wednesday's earthquake.

It has asked the building owners to submit by tomorrow the structural designs of the buildings and the names of the engineers involved in the construction.

“We asked the owners of the buildings that tilted more or less to give their structural designs and also sought the names of the engineers involved in the construction by Sunday [tomorrow],” said Shahinul Islam Khan, acting chief town planner of CDA.

According to sources in CDA, nine buildings in the city's Chandgaon, New Market, Wasa High Level Road, Jhautala, Enayetbazar, GEC, Rahamatganj, Jubilee Road and Halishahar areas tilted slightly due to the earthquake on Wednesday night.

Of them, three buildings in Chandgaon, on Wasa High Level Road and on Jubilee Road apparently seem risky, said the acting chief town planner.

Shahinul, also the chief of a three-member investigation team which was formed following the earthquake to assess the damage, said they would seek cooperation from experts of Chittagong University of Engineering and Technology (CUET) in this regard.

Decisions would be made after taking opinions of the experts, he said, adding that those decisions would be conveyed to the building owners as well.

More than 60 people were slightly injured, mostly while rushing out of buildings in Dhaka, Chittagong and Sylhet, after a 6.9 magnitude earthquake struck Myanmar and jolted Bangladesh on Wednesday night.

The tremor was felt at 7:55pm in Bangladesh and its epicentre in Myanmar was 420km east of Dhaka city.

Meanwhile, several owners of the buildings in the port city claimed that their buildings did not tilt due to the earthquake.

In Jhautala area, owners of two buildings, one of which had leaned on another, claimed that their buildings did not tilt.

“My building is all right,” said Nurul Alam, owner of a building.

Yunus, caretaker of another building, claimed that their one too did not move a bit.

Ataur Rahman, owner of “Suraiya Villa” at Chandgaon Residential Area, said the adjacent “Shirin Niketan” tilted on their building due to the impact of the earthquake.

Ataur's son Muntasir Mamun said their family and the tenants are now living in fear.

Two families had given notice that they would leave the building this month, he added.

Nurul Azim, owner of “Shirin Niketan” lives abroad and his brother-in-law Mohiuddin, who looks after the building, could not be found while visiting the spot.

Contacted over the phone, he asked this correspondent to communicate later.

Nur Ahmed, caretaker of the building, said except for one family, all the tenants had left following the earthquake.

On Wasa High Level Road, no gap was seen between three buildings -- Tower Al-Amin, Moon Plaza and Meem Tower.

Mohammad Elius, owner of Moon Plaza, claimed that their building is “attached” with Meem Tower from a long time. Shafiul Azam, owner of Tower Al-Amin, alleged that Meem Tower had tilted on their building after the earthquake. The owner of Meem Tower, however, could not be contacted over the phone for comments.