Bhubaneswar: A portion of the ceiling near the Mayor’s chamber at the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) headquarters collapsed on Tuesday morning, raising serious concerns over the safety of the newly-built building.
No injury to anyone was reported due to the incident which took place when no one was present at the site inside the BMC-ICOMC building in Satyanagar.
Sources said the incident took place around 9 am when no one was present at the spot when the ceiling, covering more than 100 square meters, came crashing down.
Confirming the incident, Mayor Sulochana Das said that a section of the false ceiling below the roof had collapsed.
Seepage from the AC system was suspected to have weakened the structure and led to the incident. Though annual maintenance is carried out regularly, the ceiling gave way before repairs could be taken up this year, she said.
However, no damage has happened to the building as only a portion of the false ceiling has collapsed, Das said, adding that no one was hurt in the incident.
It may be recalled that the BMC building at Satyanagar was inaugurated on February 16, 2023, by the then Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik. The incident has now raised questions about construction quality and maintenance standards at the civic body’s headquarters.