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Sohana building collapse: Toll climbs to 2, SDM-led panel to probe tragedy
1 held, another on the run; as per the National Disaster Response Team (NDRF) report, only two people were trapped under the debris
Rescuers on Sunday pulled out another body from the debris of the three-storey building which collapsed in Mohali’s Sohana village around 5 pm on Saturday, taking the death toll to two. The operation concluded after 23 hours of search by the rescue teams.
As per the National Disaster Response Team (NDRF) report, only two people were trapped under the debris.
The deceased was identified as Abhishek Dhanwal, 30, of Ambala, who worked in an IT company in Mohali. According to the police, Dhanwal was exercising in the gym when the building collapsed.
The building housed a gym in the basement, ground and the first floors while the top two floors were paying guest accommodations. “Abhishek, along with a few other people, had initially rushed out of the building after being alerted by a nearby shopkeeper, Salman, who saw the structure tilting. But he went inside again to collect his mobile phone and failed to make a safe exit before the building came crashing down,” a senior police officer said.
As per information, after the building collapse, Abhishek was heard crying for help from under the debris for several hours. His body, as per the official report, was recovered nearly 16 hours later. His wife broke down at the spot after being informed about Dhanwal’s death.
Earlier, rescue teams had recovered the body of Drishti Verma, 20, daughter of late Bhagat Verma of Theog in Himachal Pradesh. She was pulled out of the debris over four hours after the incident and rushed to a private hospital in Sohana, where she was declared brought dead. Her cousin, who stayed with her, had left for her home town before the incident while Drishti was sleeping in her rented accommodation when tragedy struck.
As per the police, excavation work was going on in the adjacent plot, owned by the building owners, causing the land to sink and bring down the building with it. The digging started late Friday evening without proper precautionary measures or permission from Mohali municipal corporation.
1 accused nabbed
One of the building owners, identified as Parwinder Singh has been nabbed while the other, Gagandeep Singh of Chao Majra village continues to evade arrest. The duo was booked under Sections 105 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita. One of them was elected as a panch in the recently held panchayat polls.
Mohali senior superintendent of police (SSP), Deepak Pareek said, “We have identified the construction contractor who will also be nominated in the case. Our teams are raiding the possible hideouts of the accused and they will be nabbed soon. Moreover, we will also take stringent action against all the culprits responsible for the accident.”
SDM-led committee formed for probe
Additional deputy commissioner (ADC) Viraj S Tidke said that a magisterial probe was ordered into the incident to fix the responsibility. “Mohali sub-divisional magistrate Damandeep Kaur has been entrusted with the probe and she has been asked to submit the report within three weeks following which we will take strict action against the government officials or the private persons responsible for the tragedy that claimed two innocent lives,” the ADC said.
MC initiates survey to check illegal structures
Notably, there are multiple high-rise buildings in the said area which have illegally constructed extra floors beyond the permissible limit and can meet a similar fate. To avoid further damage or such accidents, the Mohali municipal commissioner claimed to have initiated a survey to identify dangerous and illegal structures built in the areas under MC limit.
“We took actions against illegal buildings in the past and now we have initiated a detailed survey to identify such buildings and will take appropriate action against the violations. We will also seek safety certificates pertaining to the buildings which will be identified as dangerous during our survey to avoid such incidents in the future,” said MC commissioner T Benith, adding that the owner of the building had not taken any permission before starting the digging work.
He said that the building which collapsed was constructed before 2014, before the area was handed over to the MC and was under the panchayat.
Another MC official said that action will also be taken against the MC building branch officials who are responsible for checking illegal constructions in the city, but failed in their duty.
What went wrong?
The accused allegedly dug deeper than the basement of the building which collapsed on the adjacent plot. The accused did not leave any space between the two buildings and did not install columns and pillars at the site before digging. They also did not place sandbags to support the basement. Moreover, the accused allegedly did not seek permission from the civic authorities before digging the basement on the adjacent land.
Pipeline burst hit ops
Four National Disaster Response Teams (NDRF), Border Security Force sleuths from Lakhnaur besides the local police, fire brigade, local disaster management, health department, and municipal corporation worked together to initiate the rescue operation.
The rescuers faced difficulty after a sewerage pipeline was damaged during the operation after which water was filled in the basement of the building affecting the pace of the operation. The operation started at 5:30 pm on Saturday and concluded at 4:30 pm on Sunday.
ADC Tidke said that a total 600 NDRF, army and police personnel were roped in the operation. “Around 140 NDRF team members, 167 from the Army’s 57 Engineers Regiment, over 300 from the local police and the rest from allied departments were involved in the operation. During this operation, requisite machinery was provided to the NDRF in addition to what they already had.
