Govt panel shuts part of RMG unit for structural flaws

The government panel has partially closed down a garment factory located at Gazipur after engineers hired by the western retailers detected structural flaws in the building, sources said.
The factory -Tusuka Trousers Ltd-produced apparel products for the Alliance members, brands and retailers.
Syed Ahmed, Inspector General of Department of Inspection for Factories and Establishments and also head of the panel, said the panel asked the factory owner to evacuate 20 per cent of the factory building from first to nine floors.
The panel that visited the factory on October 02 also recommended detailed engineering analysis of the building including soil investigation to start within seven days and be completed by November 15 next, he added.
The panel has found all the columns of the building highly overstressed while safety factors of central, corner and edge columns are well below 1.25.
The panel also found undocumented cantilevers on the three sides of the building and discrepancies between the drawings and the current state of the factory building while credible structural drawing is not available.
The findings and the recommendations made by the panel are also available on the Alliance official website.  

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