Corrosion of steel and composite structures over the last 40 years led to the collapse of some portion of the Kala Academy building in Goa capital Panaji last month, Chief Minister Pramod Sawant told the legislative assembly citing inquiry reports. Sawant tabled the inquiry reports in the House on the last day of the Monsoon session on Thursday.

A portion of an open air auditorium of the under-renovation Kala Academy building collapsed on July 17, in which nobody was injured. The opposition members had raised doubts over the quality of works undertaken at the building.?Sawant had assured the House that he would table the inquiry report during the Monsoon session.?

"Four reports have been obtained which indicate that the failure of the structure was basically due to the corrosion of structural steel and also not being embedded in the RCC (reinforced cement concrete) slab, causing reduction of the load and the moment-resisting capacity of the structural members," he said. "The composite structures were under corrosion attack for more than 43 years, which resulted in the sudden collapse of the structure's steel members and RCC slab," he added.

The chief minister said that after the incident, the Public Works Department's Principal Chief Engineer was asked to appoint an independent agency - IIT Roorkee or any other IIT/NIT - to probe the matter. "The department had also sought an explanation from the contractor in charge of the renovation work," he said. But since there was no response from IIT Roorkee, the state government requested IIT Delhi to conduct the inquiry, he said.