J U D G M E N T

Dated this the 11 th day of February, 2022 S. Manikumar, CJ.

Instant public interest litigation was filed to direct the respondents 2 and 3 therein to demolish a 50 year old bus stand cum shopping complex and construct a new building without delay.

2. Having regard to the submissions and also the report as regards the condition of the ground floor and first floor of the building, on 12.11.2020 , we issued the following directions:

“1) Kottayam Municipality shall make a request to the Kerala State Election Commission with necessary documents and Ext P4 report, at the earliest possible and at any rate within 10 days from the date of receipt of a copy of this judgment, seeking permission to start repair work in respect of the Municipality bus stand shopping complex on account of the plan fund of Rs.50 lakhs allotted during the financial year 2020- 2021.

2) If and when the request is received by the Kerala State Election Commission, the State Election Commission shall take into account the urgency of the matter and take a decision at the earliest and at any rate within a week from the date of receipt of the request.

3) On receipt of the permission from the Kerala State Election Commission by the Municipality, the Municipality shall seek administrative sanction from the State Government, at the earliest and at any rate within a week thereafter.

4) The State Government, on receipt of the request for administrative sanction, shall consider and take a decision at the earliest and at any rate within a week thereafter.

5) Municipality, on receipt of the administrative sanction from the Government as directed above, shall take immediate steps to issue the work order by complying with the procedures under the Act, 1994 and Rules thereto and any attendant Government Orders in that regard and complete the repair works within three months from the date of receipt of the administrative sanction from the State Government as directed above and file a report before this Court on or before

31.3.2021.

6) Municipality shall strictly abide by the suggestions made in the expert report and take all precautions including a decision as to whether the shop rooms remaining vacant need be let out.

3. At this juncture, it is worthwhile to reproduce the report submitted by the College of Engineering, Thiruvananthapuram dated

8.3.2019, as regards condition of the building:

“ Detailed observations in the ground floor and first floor of the building Visible cracks were seen in the ground floor as well as in the first floor in many rooms especially in the beam, wall and slab portions of the structure. In the ground floor, RCC column was found to have cracked in the vertical direction and reinforcement is in exposed condition. In the beam supporting the slab at many locations, long horizontal cracks parallel to the length of the beam was seen clearly indicating severe corrosion in the main steel reinforcement in the structural element. The cantilever beam extending on the verandah portion is in fully corroded state. In the main slab to at many portions, cover concrete was seen spalled and bulged and reinforcement is found in exposed state. Lintel portion above some doors and windows are also cracked.

Dampness in the slab and the walls were observed in some locations due to poor plumbing systems. Cover provided for the various structural elements are insufficient. Expansion joint provided on the building is in worn out condition.

Recommendations Based on the visual observation, it is highly recommended to do the retrofitting of the building, as early as possible following the guidelines of the CPWD manual Handbook on Repair and Rehabilitation of RCC Buildings. The distress and the damages seen on the various structural elements of the structure are highly life threatening.

Also