Pune building collapse: Gone in five seconds!

Nine people were killed and one more person is still feared trapped under the debris of an illegal four-storey under-construction building that caved in at Taljai Pathar in Dhankavdi on Monday.

It just took five seconds for the building to collapse. The incident took place around 1.45 pm when the construction workers just started having lunch.

Two daughters of Nagesh and Laxmi Kamble, living as tenants on the ground floor of the same building, were among 10 people rescued by National Disaster Response Force personnel.

However, their other daughter Nayan Kamble (12) could not survive. The two-room accommodation was taken on rent just 10 days ago by Kamble, who works as a porter at Chhatrapati Shivaji Market Yard.

As soon as the building collapsed, neighbours of Kamble and some Ganesh mandal workers rushed to the spot. Fire brigade personnel and the police reached the spot too.

Though the various rescue teams managed to complete their operations till late in the evening, most of the trapped persons were pulled out dead. However, their operations were slowed down to an extent as many onlookers and local politicians thronged the spot.

Following complaints about the precarious structure of the building by local corporator Shivlal Bhosale, the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) had issued a notice to owners Sanjay Nande, a former corporator, and Lahu Sawant to vacate the building on September 1. However, they failed to do so and even the PMC couldn’t carry out the demolition drive due to lack of police bandobast on the backdrop of Ganesh festival.

Building ‘survived’ PMC demolition axe

The illegal building collapse in Taljai Pathar in Dhankavdi on Monday afternoon has once again exposed the unholy nexus between corporators, politicians and civic administration.
The ill-fated four-storey underconstruction building owned by former corporator Sanjay Nande and Lahu Sawant, on whose land the structure was set up, was served demolition notice by the PMC building permission department on September 1.

Local corporator Shivlal Bhosale had asked the PMC to look into the matter only after neighbours complained to him about the precarious condition of the building.

However, it was too late before the PMC could take action.
According to the PMC press release, the property located in Survey Number 7 in Dhankavdi falls in low water zone and its permissible floor space index (FSI) was only 0.33. But the duo erected the four-storied without obtaining the requisite permission.

Speaking to the media after the incident, Pune municipal commissioner Mahesh Pathak said that the civic administration has so far issued notices to around 2,500 illegal structures, and around 700 to 800 such structures have been demolished.
He said that the PMC would continue the demolition drive.
There are many illegal constructions on hill slopes and hill tops in the city that the PMC has failed to identify yet.

“Due to lack of police force during Ganesh festival, we could not continue the demolition drive,” he said, adding that the civic body has decided to cancel its three-day Shaniwarwada festival and help the deceased’s families and injured victims from the Rs20 lakh fund earmarked for the festival.”