Tirunelveli Corporation Commissioner Monika Rana inspecting the under-construction urban health centre on Wednesday .
| Photo Credit: N. RAJESH
The Corporation has slapped the fine of ₹ 6 lakh on a contract firm after structural flaws and cracks were found in the under-construction urban health centre on the District Collectorate premises.
According to Corporation Commissioner Monika Rana, the Corporation planned to create the urban health centre at the cost of ₹1.20 crore and identified two sites for this purpose. After these sites were found to be unfit for construction activities, it was decided in a review meeting chaired by the then District Collector on October 4, 2024 to establish the urban health centre on the District Collectorate premises.
After removing the trees on the sites selected for urban health centre with due permission, construction was started on June 3, 2025 with R.R. Builders, the contract firm.
When the site inspection done by the experts from Tirunelveli Government Engineering College found that the loose soil in the site would affect the building, it was decided to use raft foundation for constructing the urban health centre. Based the drawings prepared by the Tirunelveli Government Engineering College, the raft foundation was done, which escalated the project cost up to ₹52.50 lakh.
“After raft foundation consumed more money, funds for floor tiles, electrical and wiring works, fixing of doors, plumbing fittings, plastering of first floor, weathering course, painting etc. could not be allocated immediately. Hence, the Corporation council gave its permission for allotting ₹52.50 lakh for completing this work and fresh tenders for this work was floated,” Dr. Monika said.
Meanwhile, the Corporation engineers, who inspected the building recently to find cracks in the building, asked the contract firm to rectify the problems within ten days after slapping fine of 5% of the project cost.
“We’ll never compromise on the quality of construction of any building of Tirunelveli Corporation as our engineers inspect the buildings at regular intervals. The contract firms are instructed to ensure prescribed quality and the cost involved in rectifying the flaws, if any, is borne by the contract firms only,” Dr. Monika said.
Published – September 30, 2026 07:35 pm IST
