E-Paper
Another unsafe building gives way in Ludhiana, this time on Rehmatullah Road
The building owner had already hired labourers to raze the unsafe building and some workers were inside when the incident took place. They all escaped injury.
Two days after an unsafe factory building collapsed on RK Road in Industrial Area-A, leaving at least 10 people injured, the fourth floor of an old four-storey building gave way on Rehmatullah Road near Neemwala Chowk on Saturday evening.
The building owner had already hired labourers to raze the unsafe building and some workers were inside when the incident took place. They all escaped injury.
Debris of the collapsing building also fell on the busy road outside and damaged power supply lines in the area. The rubble was being cleared after police’s arrival till the filing of this report.
Neighbours complained that they had been complaining about the unsafe building and when the owner started work to dismantle it, he did not employ any safety precautions.
A shopkeeper in the area, Kunal Sachdeva, said the MC should bring down the remaining portion of the building safely, as it could collapse further and cause injuries to the labourers working in it and passers-by.
Despite several attempts, assistant town planner (ATP) Mohan Singh remained unavailable for comments.
Station house officer (SHO), Division Number 3 police station, Madhu Bala said, “Barricading has been done outside the building as a precautionary measure. We are also looking into the complaint made by residents. No loss to property or injury has been reported as of now.”
As many as 132 unsafe buildings have been identified in different parts of the city, posing grave danger to lives, but the civic body is sitting tight on further action.
Even on July 29, a portion of an unsafe building had collapsed on Deepak Cinema Road and its 80-year-old owner Ashok Kumar had a narrow escape.
