News: Bengaluru Builder to Pull Down Tilted 18-Storey Tower-24-07-2026

A Bengaluru developer has chosen to demolish and rebuild an 18-storey residential tower that developed a slight tilt barely three months after it received an Occupancy Certificate (OC), media reports said. All 49 apartments had been sold and were ready for handover.

The tower is Block E-3 of SNN Raj Etternia, near Kudlu off Hosur Road in South Bengaluru, a project of around 15 towers and nearly 970 apartments. No other block is affected. Flats in the tower were reportedly priced between Rs 1 crore and Rs 5 crore. Questions have been sent to the developer.

Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA) Chief Commissioner M. Maheshwar Rao confirmed to PTI that SNN Raj Corporation has sought permission to demolish and reconstruct the tower, saying the company had come forward voluntarily. GBA officials told PTI that the building, with about 49 flats at Haralur, was found to be slightly tilted.

The cause

Anuj Sanjay Jain, Director, SNN Raj Corporation, was quoted in media reports as tracing the problem to an error in the original geotechnical investigation. He told The Times of India that the company noticed undulations in the slope when it was about to hand over units. He told Deccan Herald that some consultants proposed repairs, but the company decided against shortcuts despite the significant financial implications and will rebuild the entire tower.

The developer has informed the Karnataka Real Estate Regulatory Authority (RERA), and buyers will bear no additional cost, the newspaper reported.

A senior engineer quoted by The Times of India said the tilt surfaced during a water load test by the developer, who found the building sinking and approached the authorities. The official said an OC is issued by the town planning department after checking compliance with sanctioned plans and does not certify structural or geotechnical integrity. Soil behaviour cannot always be predicted, he said, and cavities 30 to 40 metres down may show up only after load testing.

How this case differs

The Supreme Court ordered the 29- and 32-storey Supertech Twin Towers in Noida demolished in 2022 for violating building norms and illegal approvals. Four apartment complexes in Kochi’s Maradu were razed in 2020 on the court’s order for breaching Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) norms. The Bengaluru demolition, experts said, is a voluntary decision taken before buyers took possession.