Wall collapses on house after heavy rain: 4 of a family killed

The heavy rain on Wednesday night claimed four lives when the compound wall of a cemetery caved in and fell on a house at Laxminagar in Yerawada at 10.30 pm. The deceased include two children, their father and their grandfather, that is members of three generations lost their lives in the mishap. Only two members of the family, both women, survived the mishap.

The deceased were identified as Ananda Namdeo Bhilore (70), Sudhakar Ananda Bhilore (40) and Sudhakar’s children Akash (12) and Pallavi (8). The survivors were identified as Sudhakar’s wife Sangeeta Sudhakar Bhilore (35) and his mother Shantabai Ananda Bhilore (60).

The police said Sangeeta received serious injuries and is undergoing treatment at the intensive care unit (ICU) in Inlaks & Budhrani Hospital. Her mother-in-law too received serious injuries and has been hospitalised.

Panic spread in the vicinity after the wall collapsed as several other shanties are situated off the same wall.

Residents started vacating their houses.
Senior police inspector Kishor Jadhav, incharge of Yerawada police station said, “The 18-ft wall is old and in a dilapidated condition. Due to the heavy rain on Wednesday night, the soil around the wall was washed away and it collapsed on the one-room house when the family was inside.”

Santoshi Pawar, who lives in the vicinity, said they heard a loud noise and came out of their house, only to see Bhilore’s shanty covered with the debris of the wall. “We and other residents alerted the fire brigade and the police and started removing the family members from the debris,” he said, adding that the heavy rain affected the rescue operation.

A fire brigade team reached the spot and started the rescue operation. “We got the call some minutes after the mishap. We reached the spot and removed the people trapped under the debris and rushed them to hospital.”

Ramesh Gangad, fire officer from Yerawada fire station said some residents complained of getting shocks after electric wires fell after the mishap, So they called up the Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Co Ltd (MSEDCL) and asked the authorities to disconnect the power supply of the vicinity.

Jadhav said the four victims were declared dead on arrival by the hospital authorities. “After post-mortem, the four bodies were sent to their native place, Jalgaon. Two members of the family are undergoing treatment.”

When contacted, the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) authorities said the shanties were illegal. More than 35 to 40 families live there, though the area has not been declared a slum, they said.

Dnyaneshwar Molak, joint municipal commissioner of PMC, who visited the spot, said a report of the mishap will be sent to the district administration and then the compensation for the victims will be decided.

Residents of the area said Sudhakar worked with the house-keeping department of a hotel, whereas Sangeeta was a homemaker. Akash studied in Std VII and Pallavi in Std III.
They said the cemetery was looked after by a private trust. The wall was constructed in 1986 and later its height was increased by two ft.

Molak said they are investigating who built the wall and whether they followed safety measures.

Parents visited Pune to see Ganeshotsav
Senior police inspector Kishor Kadam of Yerawada police station said two days ago, Sudhakar’s parents Ananda and Shantabai had come to Pune from Jalgaon to celebrate Ganeshotsav and were staying with Sudhakar’s family.

Survival, the big question for residents

There is fear among the residents of Yerawada’s Laxminagar area after Wednesday’s mishap in which four members of a family died after an 18-feet wall of a cemetery caved in.

Most of the families have vacated their shanties and have taken refuge in Genba Moze High School. The biggest question before them now is survival. Most of the residents, who are either small-time workers or labourers at construction sites cursed the politicians and the government for the negligence shown towards them. “Every time, the politicians and their workers come to seek votes prior to the election and promise to legitimise the dwelling. However, after the elections, nobody bothers,” said a woman while evacuating her house.

She added that after the incident, the local corporators and the party people did not come immediately. “We had to help the families trapped inside the debris,” she said.

Another local resident, Arun Shinde, who works as a labourer said, “We have been living in the same dwelling since many years, however, the government has failed to give us houses or legitimise the slum.” “Some ex-corporators visited the spot and offered us money, but we did not accept them,” he said. The residents demanded that the civic body should now construct a RCC wall.