9 dead as slab of ‘illegal’ floor collapses in Pune

Workers clear debris of the collapse that took place at an under-construction building, in Balewadi area in Pune. (Photo: PTI)

Nine labourers were killed on the spot when a concrete slab of the 13th floor of an upcoming building collapsed at Balewadi in Pune on Friday morning. Three persons were injured in the incident.

Pune municipal corporation commissioner Kunal Kumar said a criminal case would be lodged against the builders concerned. Mr Kumar said, “The 13th floor was being illegally built. And we are going to cancel the construction licence of the builder and contractor. We are going to register a criminal complaint against the builders.”

Following the incident, Mr Kumar and mayor Prashant Jagtap had rushed to the spot.

Pride Purple company is constructing Park Express phase II at Balewadi. Though the project has permission for 11 floors, 14 floors were being built, sources said. The slab that collapsed belonged to the 13th floor that was being built. The project is owned by builders Arvinda Jain and Shravan Agarwal.

“A slab of the gallery of the 13th floor fell when construction was going on. Nine labourers got crushed and were killed on the spot. We reached within 15 minutes of receiving the call at 11.10 am and removed debris as soon as reaching the site. All were taken to Aundh District Hospital where nine were declared dead,” said Prashant Ranpise, chief fire brigade officer, Pune municipal corporation.

The dead were identified as Basawant Saha, Tufan Saha, Sarban Saha, Karan Saha, Munna Paswan, Varun Singh, Bipin Thakur, Vijay Paswan and Rajesh Paswan.

Police inspector Dayanand Dhome of the Chatushrungi police station said, “We have slapped Section 304 of the IPC against the builder for culpable homicide.”

However, in reply to the allegations, Sarita Takori, legal consultant of Pride Purple said, “Construction of Park Express is legal and Pride Purple has given the contract to Mrigank Construction on July 21 2014. Hence Mrigank is responsible for the labourers’ security. We have taken permission for 12 floors from Pune Municipal Corporation and bought transferable development rights for the 13th floor. The PMC has the online report of July 1, 2016. We were constructing as per the permission given by PMC and RCC consultant Hansal Parekh has designed the slab casting. Work was going on as per the plan.”

Ajit Pawar seeks action Nationalist Congress Party leader Ajit Pawar demanded the government to take immediate action in the slab collapse accident in Balewadi, Pune that killed nine labourers. “Nine people have been killed and the state government should take immediate measures,” Mr Pawar said in the Assembly. Minister of state for urban development Ranjit Patil assured him he would look into the matter. “Minister Girish Bapat has left to visit the site and a statement from the government in this regards will be made soon,” Mr Patil said. The incident took place at around 10.30 am when the labourers were working at an under-construction building.