5 people have died in the collapse of the twin buildings in Hutchins Road, Thomas Town in Pulakeshinagar. According to the police, four bodies have been identified whereas the identification for the fifth body is still going on. Deceased are Narayana, 26, Nirmala, 20, Anushka, 03, and Shambambhu Kumar. Around 13 labours were working in the under-construction building when a residential apartment collapsed.
According to the police, four bodies have been identified whereas the identification for the fifth body is still going on. Deceased are Narayana, 26, Nirmala, 20, Anushka, 03, and Shambambhu Kumar. Around 13 labours were working in the under-construction building when a residential apartment collapsed.
BS Prasad, the BBMP’s East Zone Chief Engineer said that at around 2 a.m. the four-year-old residential apartment where eight families lived came down. As the earth below the basement shrunk the apartment collapsed. Similarly, the neighboring under-construction apartment also collapsed.
All the eight families were rescued from the collapsed apartments. The rescue operations however continued since they were not sure as to how many people lived in those two buildings. The local cops, fire service personnel, NDRF, and Karnataka Civil Defence all came together at the spot to lend an extra hand in the rescue process. Mayor Gangambike Mallikarjun and East zone joint commissioner Raveendra visited the spot.
Prasad said that the under-construction building had violated building bye-laws during the construction. The local engineer had already issued provisional and confirmation order for the demolition of under-construction but the builder had continued with the construction. BBMP engineers have also asked structural engineers to visit the spot and submit the reports.
According to Mayor Gangambike, even though the land was not fit for the construction, the builders still built the apartments and hence the foundation of the apartments was not laid properly. Both the apartments will now be demolished by BBMP. The architect, the engineer and the builders will be held responsible for the accident. Also, one floor of the building was constructed illegally as opposed to the sanctioned plan. The builders will now have to compensate the injured and the family members of the dead woman.
