Panel to look into building collapse

Satinder Pal Singh

Zirakpur, April 19

Terming the tragedy “most unfortunate”, Punjab Local Bodies Minister Navjot Singh Sidhu on Thursday constituted a special four-member committee to probe all aspects to ascertain the reasons and circumstances behind the collapse of the four-storeyed under-construction building at Imperial Garden in Peer Muchalla, Zirakpur, on April 12.

The committee, headed by Karnesh Sharma, Director, Local Bodies, has been directed to submit its report within a week and also suggest a course of action to prevent such incidents in the future. The committee constituted under the municipal Act, will have a Chief Engineer, the senior town planner and the executive officer of Zirakpur as members.

Addressing a press conference at the Zirakpur police station, Sidhu said responsibility would be fixed and the culprits would be brought to justice, no matter how high and mighty they might be.

Taking serious note of the collapse, Sidhu said he would personally tour the sites to monitor the construction work quality of big projects in the city. He said there would be zero tolerance to illegal constructions as the menace had acquired monstrous proportions across the state.

Sidhu said the probe into the collapse of the four-storeyed building had so far found that the builders had deviated from the approved plan and structural design.

It has been found that the licence of the under-construction four-storeyed building had expired last year and the builders had constructed the building without a certified licence. The minister warned the builders against construction of multi-storeyed buildings in the city without approval from the MC and directed them not to give possession without obtaining an occupancy certificate.

The Dhakoli police had registered an FIR against 11 persons and later on also booked the then Executive Officer, SE, SDO and architect.

Sidhu visited the Zirakpur police station and got a case registered against the builders for violating the Punjab Municipal Act-2011 Building Bylaws and handed over the documents of the building to the SSP, Mohali.

MC begins sealing buildings

Following the directions of Local Bodies Minister Navjot Singh Sidhu, teams of the Zirakpur Municipal Council on Thursday night began sealing buildings at Imperial Garden in Peer Muchalla. The minister had directed the authorities concerned to seal buildings that had not been occupied yet and those which had been constructed in violation of the sanctioned building plans. Manveer Singh, executive officer, said, “We are sealing only those flats which have not been occupied yet to ensure that nobody stays in these buildings”.