Pune: Wada wall collapses, forces family to stay at relative’s place at night

Despite repeated complaints – about the dangerous part of an adjoining wada located in Guruwar peth - to the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) and local corporators since the past one month, a side of the wada’s wall collapsed on Monday night, causing Shripad Navgire and his family to stay at a relative’s house the entire night as it was no longer safe to sleep in their own wada

Despite repeated complaints – about the dangerous part of an adjoining wada located in Guruwar peth - to the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) and local corporators since the past one month, a side of the wada’s wall collapsed on Monday night, causing Shripad Navgire and his family to stay at a relative’s house the entire night as it was no longer safe to sleep in their own wada.

(From left) Ramesh Navgire, Shripad and Surekha Navgire at their residence showing the part of their house that collapsed at Guruwar peth on Tuesday, (Pratham Gokhale/HT Photo)

“We have an old wada in Gaure Aali in Guruwar peth area and there are many old wadas located in a line in our lane. Since the last one month, we have been complaining about the issue and about the risk to our wada from the adjoining wada, as the latter’s wall has been completely inclined towards us. Still, PMC officials did not look into the matter and last night, that wall fell over our house. I had put up new tin sheets a few months ago but everything collapsed,” said Navgire, 32, who works at a private firm.

The lane in Guruwar peth where the wadas are located is a narrow one where the daily vegetable market begins in the morning and there is a heavy rush throughout the day. In the last one month, the PMC building construction department had issued notices to hundreds of dangerous wadas in the old city however residents said that they were dangerous and could collapse any time.

“No one paid heed to my requests or the official letters that we sent to the PMC building construction department. Instead, they said they would come if the wall collapsed. And finally the wall collapsed after which PMC workers came and removed the wall and part of the upper side of our wada. But all the debris is lying as it is. Who will compensate for our loss,” said Navgire.

Advocate Aniket Mendhe who lives nearby, said, “All of us residents have repeatedly complained about the dangerous wadas in this lane but no one is ready to come here and do the repair work. It is the responsibility of the PMC to take care of residents during such heavy rains and if anyone loses their life, it will be the PMC’s responsibility.”

On Tuesday however, PMC officials and engineers from the building construction department visited the site. Rupesh