Five-storey building collapses in Shimla, villagers blame road work for mishap

A five-storey building collapsed in the suburbs of Shimla city this morning. However, no life was lost in the mishap as residents had vacated the building last night. Four or five buildings in the vicinity of the collapsed structure have also become vulnerable and have also been vacated.

Local residents blame the ongoing construction of the four-lane road right below their colony, which falls in Chamyana gram panchayat, for the disaster. Ranjna Verma, the owner of the collapsed building, said that several landslides had occurred below her building since the construction company started cutting the hill for the construction of the four-lane road. “I had informed the four-lane authorities and company several times that my building was in danger, but they didn’t pay any heed,” she added.

A few youths, who had rented a floor in the building, corroborated the owner’s allegation. “Two days ago, a few officials of the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) and the company came here to check the widening cracks in and around the building. They assured us that the building was totally safe and they would fill the cracks with some chemicals. Despite their assurances, the building collapsed,” they added.

Yashpal Verma, vice-pradhan of gram panchayat, said that they had informed the construction company and the NHAI verbally as well as in writing about the threat to the buildings several times in the past two years. “The company and the NHAI had assured us that these buildings would be protected but did nothing,” he alleged.

Meanwhile, NHAI Project Director Anand Kumar refuted the allegations saying that they had been taking the required safety measures. “We have done rock bolting and other safety measures are also being taken. We can’t say what exactly caused the collapse of the building without proper investigation. The incident, though, is very unfortunate,” he said. He added that it would be premature to speculate on the reasons behind the collapse of the building.

SDM (Shimla Rural) Manjeet Singh said that an investigation would be carried out to find the reason behind the collapse of the building. “The company had been told to stabilise the strata here and probably it didn’t work out. However, we will need to conduct an inquiry into the matter to find out the exact reason for the collapse,” he added. “If it is found out that the building has collapsed due to the four-laning, we will make best efforts to ensure that the house owners are fully compensated,” he added.