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And you thought the only leaning building is the Leaning Tower of Pisa ? No, you are wrong. Here is another !
Most of those who have passed through the National Highway 47 towards Cochin might have noticed the multi storeyed building which is very near to Hotel Le Meridien. The main structure of the building and most of its work were completed in the 90s itself. But even after 18 years, it hasn’t got any occupants. Reason ? Its a leaning building !!! Yes, Cochin where the land price is too high these days, people are ready to spend more than one Crore ( about 232,000 USD) for a house / flat, this building is all vacant.
Rest of the story. This was built even before they started work of the Le Meridien Hotel. The location is really good, very near to the National Highway. The work was finished and the owner approached the Government for final approval. They had a detailed analysis and found that the building is leaning and not suitable for living. I have heard that the Owner committed suicide, not sure whether it is true though.
The question is – The Civil Engineers, Overseers, who are all worked in this project, never knew the building is not vertical ? Everything was perfect in all phases ? All started going wrong only after finishing it ? No testes or analysis were conducted ? Unbelievable. I think the problem started from the foundation itself. Either it was not designed properly or work was not supervised properly. Only thing which can be done is demolishing the building. But even after that, it is not sure whether they can make new as the building laws became more strict now.
Keep it simple, but make things perfect too. People of Cochin do not need lot of world wonders !
Photo of Hotel Le Meridien – Which is very near to this building
Photo Courtesy – Din the amature photographer.
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The photos looks amazing. Buy a dSLR soon.
thx for the news. well ,isnt it very tough to live near ernakulam? very huge traffic,humid ,hot climate.many people are not native many bimaru’s and all
.
even in my town(muvattupuzha) there are around 5-6 flats nearing completion and on work.
realestate mafia is buying out all rural rubber estates etc for double or trible the actual price.
hmm..still whenever I visit Ernakulam ,I finish my work ASAP and jump into my bike/bus to ESCAPE from the once good city.
I have lot of good memories of shopping etc during 1983-1993.
Just Blog on! I like your blog
“The question is – The Civil Engineers, Overseers, who are all worked in this project, never knew the building is not vertical ? Everything was perfect in all phases ? ”
Actually from what I heard is that the building in time sort of “started to lean” …. er well in Malayalam you would say “Kettidum Eruthi poyee”, I believe. Anyway I feel sorry for the person who tried to build that.
@Ashwin
Thanks a lot for the comment. I use my S3 IS and SE K550. DSLR ? hmm, $$$$ matters !
@Prakash
Yes, I hate that. I mean being inside the city. But I am 18kms away from Cochin. Better here and about 10 mins walk from NH as well. We were planning to sell our land in Wayanad last year. But later I realized the mistake and we dropped the idea. I go there once in 3-4 months. The place we live really matters – always.
@FilledVoid
Yes, I think something with the foundation itself. That is near to the small river (or ‘thodu’ in malayalam) and I think the desigers / engineers didn’t consider that.
Also, bsically I am a civil engineer ! 1999 pass out batch from TKM Engg college, Kollam.(but moved to computers after completing B.Tech)
Wow! That was something. Poor builder. Well he can demolish it & sell the land, if he’s still alive.
Din Sir, in which business are you now? I thought you were in construction.
Rajbir, no, I am not into construction. I am into softwares. I am running a small software firm here in Cochin. More into business and project management these days.
The famous Taj Hotel at the Gateway of India in Bombay has been built backside-front. The sea facing side is actually the back of the hotel and not the front as first conceived. The chief constructor DID commit suicide.
Manan, never knew that. There are two Taj (one old and one new) right ? You meant the old one ?
Yea, the old one.
Where’s the porn everyone was talking about!
Although I did notice this – No “testes” or “anal”ysis were conducted ? – in your post…:D (yeah, I need to grow up!)
As for the building, its just as well, looks crappy anyways.
lol you and your porn !! Someone’s content filter blocked my blog because it thought the buildings are so sexy ! Yah, building looks crappy, but thats in a prime location, land cost is too high there. But now theres no other option, poor guy who built it !
a, that’s actually a really good suggestion. Thanks so much for this!