Commercial building collapses in Zirakpur after digging starts in adjacent plot

The plot owner, Jyoti Sadana, was booked for digging beyond permissible limits.

By 11am on Monday, cracks had developed on the walls of a commercial building in Balaji Enclave on the Zirakpur-Patiala Road, as land in an adjacent plot being dug by an excavator machine started sinking.

The building in Zirakpur starts to collapse at about 4 pm on Monday. Mohali administration and police were informed when it developed cracks in the morning. (Sant Arora/Hindustan Times)

By 4pm, much after fire brigade, disaster management and municipal corporation (MC) teams reached the spot, the structure collapsed. No casualties were reported as the building had been evacuated, even as the owner of the neighbouring plot was booked for not getting permissions to dig the land to build a basement.

The building that collapsed had a chemist’s shop, lawyers’ offices and a second floor with no occupancy. Vineet Kamboj, owner of the chemist shop said medicines worth lakhs had been destroyed.

“Digging started five days ago and on Monday morning it was dug to a depth of 10 feet beyond permissible limits, exposing the foundation of the building. The land started sinking and the walls started developing cracks,” said Gurpreet Singh, the owner of the collapsed building.

The plot owner, Jyoti Sadana, was booked under Sections 288 (negligent conduct with respect to pulling down or repairing buildings) and 427 (mischief causing damage to the amount of Rs 50) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Section 21 of the Mining Act for digging without permission.

Report sought: Dayalan

Mohali deputy commissioner Girish Dayalan said a complete report had been sought on the incident. “We came to know on time that the earth had been dug up beyond permissible limits, endangering the adjoining building, which was evacuated on time, saving many lives. Legal action will be taken.”

According to MC records, the owner of the plot had got the building plan for a residential unit sanctioned, but permissions had not been given for digging the land for a basement.

In February this year, a commercial building collapsed on the Kharar-Landran road and a man operating an excavator machine was killed while digging the basement area.

An inquiry is pending in the case with the sub-divisional magistrate, Kharar.