Sohana collapse: Rescuers battle clock to find survivors

As rescuers race against time to find survivors at the Sohana building collapse site, Mohali Municipal Corporation officials have said no prior permission was taken for the digging work in the vacant plot adjoining the structure.

A thorough investigation into the matter would be carried out, they said. A 20-year-old woman died in the building collapse. Municipal Corporation Commissioner T Benith said, “The owner had not taken permission for carrying out digging work in the adjoining vacant plot. We are investigating whether necessary precautions were taken during digging.”

Nearby buildings have developed cracks and families vacated many adjoining houses after the incident. The officials concerned said the rescue work would continue all through the night.

Fearing a large number of casualties, the administration has set up a Control Room at the Civil Hospital, Mohali, and put on alert three private hospitals. Panic gripped local residents as electricity supply got snapped in the locality after the collapse. Residents said they heard an earth-shattering sound around 5 pm. Fearing that an earthquake had struck, they rushed outside, but were blinded by a cloud of dust. The residents found rubble scattered all around. A neighbour, Resham Kaur, said, “At first, I thought it was an earthquake as household goods started shaking. Later, I realised that a building had collapsed.”

The building was located in a densely populated locality with a lot of paying guest (PG) facilities. A gym, named Royal Gym, was being run in the basement and the ground floor of the building for the past some years. Two upper floors housed PG facility, said the police, adding that digging work was being carried out by the building owner in the adjoining vacant plot for construction. Three earth-moving machines worked round the clock in the vacant plot, said the local residents. Iron bars meant for construction were still lying on the roadside.

Another neighbour, Manjinder Singh, said, “Perhaps, the owners wanted to complete the plinth level in holidays as no official comes for checking on weekends.”

The residents complained that mushrooming PGs and unauthorised constructions had rendered the densely populated area unsafe.

Locals saw it coming

An onlooker, Salman, had raised an alarm, alerting the building occupants. The police said a few people heeded to the alarm and rushed out. “A youth was already out but when he heard that the building would collapse, he rushed inside to get his phone from the first floor. He is still missing,” said a senior police official. Local women said they also heard calls warning people to stay away from the site.

Plot owners booked

Plot owners Parwinder Singh and Gagandeep Singh, both residents of Chao Majra, have been booked under Section 105 of the BNS at the Sohana police station, said SSP Deepak Pareek

Rescue ops to continue round-the-clock: DC

Deputy Commissioner Aashika Jain said, “Rescue work will continue round-the-clock till all people, who are feared to have been trapped in the rubble, are traced. The Duty Magistrates, Tehsildar Arjun Singh Grewal and Navpreet Singh Shergill, have been deputed there to assist the rescue teams and local police.”