E-Paper
Building permission department orders relocation of three labour camps
In the wake of some major wall collapse incidents involving fatalities in the city, the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) building permissions department has order shifting of three labour camps to safer places on grounds of safety and issued notices for carrying out wall repairs at four places in the city
In the wake of some major wall collapse incidents involving fatalities in the city, the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) building permissions department has order shifting of three labour camps to safer places on grounds of safety and issued notices for carrying out wall repairs at four places in the city.
According to the engineering department officials, the places are located in Ahmednagar road and Kharadi areas of the city.
The department officials carried out a survey of 300 spots during the months of April and May which led to the revelation that the three labour spots need to be shifted and four places needed wall repairs on a priority basis.
Superintendent engineer (building permission) department Rajendra Raut said that during the survey we found that four spots had weak walls and directions were issued for their repairs and at the same time three labour camps have been asked to be shifted for safety and security.
“Notices have been issued and we are closely monitoring the situation as we are already into monsoon season. The survey started in April and continued till May where various discrepancies were detected and action is being taken in the larger interests of citizen safety,” he said.
The PMC also carried out demolition of 33 old and dilapidated wadas as part of its safe monsoon for citizens’ initiative. According to Raut, demolition is being done to those structure which were completely dilapidated and needed urgent action.
According to the building permissions department, there are many old ‘wadas’ in the central suburbs of Pune. In the last one month, PMC has demolished 33 wadas. According to the officials , there are 211 wadas that could be dangerous if not repaired immediately, of which 150 places have been repaired.
Notices have been issued to 115 wada owners till date. The Bombay High Court in 2020 directed the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) to file an affidavit stating the reasons and details of frequent collapse of retaining walls by various developers, causing injuries and fatalities of construction workers and other person, in the last three years. The court also asked the civic body to explain whether it has taken steps to ensure already-constructed walls were built as per safety standards.
A division bench of Justice S J Kathawalla and Justice R I Chagla had, on September 8, passed directions while hearing through videoconference three pleas filed by AlconGroup, a real estate firm which had challenged the stop-work notices issued by the PMC following the Kondhwawall collapse in June 2019. On June 29, a 60-feet-high wall of a residential complex in Kondhwa had collapsed on some tin sheds, killing 17labourers, including children, who were working on the construction site and living there temporarily.
On July 2, six construction workers were killed in their sleep and four others injured when a boundary wall collapsed and buried their shanties in Pune’s Ambegaon due to incessant rains. The FIRs were lodged in both the case and currently the matter is in the court.
An offence was lodged at Kondhwa police station under IPC sections 304(culpable homicide not amounting to murder) and 34 (common intention) where in the two builders — identified as Vivek Agarwal (32) and his brother Vipul (32)were arrested late on June 29.
