PESHAWAR: Panic gripped employees after cracks, both major and minor, appeared in the newly-built block of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Civil Secretariat on Thursday.

However, the communication and works department insisted the multi-storeyed building didn’t develop cracks and that it was safe for use.

According to it, the employees of government department working there panicked following the ‘expansion joint contraction’ in Block-III of the Rs389.729 million Abdul Wali Khan Multiplex, a small portion of which is under construction.

The block houses offices of excise department, directorate of information, finance department, besides those of special assistant to chief minister on law Arif Yousaf and special assistant on prisons Malik Qasim Khan Khattak.

C&W dept insists ‘expansion joint contraction’ caused incident; building safe

The incident took place at around 11am prompting staff members to leave their offices for the open. They however returned after some time.

Several employees working in the building told Dawn that they heard a loud explosion following which cracks appeared in the three-storeyed building.

Awal Khan, an employee of the excise department, said he first heard a big bang and then saw cracks develop in the building.

He said a door in the middle of the building was also broken in the incident. Interestingly, when the incident took place, the provincial cabinet was in session at the Civil Secretariat’s cabinet room just a stone’s throw away from the Block-III.

Many employees asked colleagues to step out and gather in front of the cabinet room so that they could let the chief minister know about the incident and threats posed by it to their lives.

However, some senior staff members intervened and persuaded them to highlight the issue through proper channel.

An excise department official said he and his colleagues had brought the matter to the notice of the administration and C&W department before Eid and that officials of both departments had visited the block.

He said there were two other blocks with the same design and that he was worried about the safety of a large number of people working there.

“We are really worried about our lives,” he said.

However, the C&W department denied the block had developed cracks or it was unsafe for use.

Sub-divisional officer (buildings) of C&W department Mehdi Raza said he hadn’t received any complaints about building structural safety or cracks previously.

He said as building lacked rain gutters, the department received complaint of rainwater entering rooms and basement of the building but no one had pointed out cracks in the structure.

“What happened to building on Thursday was the contraction of expansion joint, which probably panicked employees,” he said.

The SDO said expansion joints were common in buildings as they ensured structural stability.

He said the steel used in the building expanded in summer and contracted in winter.

“Loud noises from the building were caused by the use of tiles over expansion joint as they shattered noisily due to the building contraction. Expansion joint is usually covered with silicon but not with tiles,” he said, adding that the slabs, beams and columns of the building were all intact and building was stable.

He however admitted that wood used in the building had deteriorated and would be changed.

Chief engineer (building) of the C&W (central) Fazli Kabir told Dawn that there was no crack in the building and that it was completely safe. He said his staff had checked the building and declared it safe for use.

Deputy secretary of the administration department Iqbal Hussain Bacha said he visited the building after cracks were reported.

He said the C&W department termed the incident as expansion joint contraction but he had directed the monitoring and evaluation wing of the planning and development department to check the building and immediately prepare a report about whether the building was safe or not so that necessary steps could be taken.

Published in Dawn, October 2nd, 2015

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