Day after Mahindra Group owner’s ancestral house portion collapsed, debris still lying on road

A big portion of the ancestral house of country’s renowned businessman Anand Mahindra, situated in Soodan Mohalla of the old city area, collapsed on Tuesday evening. The multi-storey building had been lying in a dilapidated state for the past several decades. Portion of the house collapsed while the remaining portion of the building is still lying hanging in between and can fall anytime.

Debris of the building is still lying on the road, haunting area residents. Even broken electricity pole and cables are also lying scattered on the street, causing inconvenience to the residents. Neither the Municipal Corporation nor the PSPCL has taken any step to clear the mess from the road.

A notice under Section 273 of the Punjab Municipal Corporation Act, 1976, addressed to the building owner, Anand Mahindra, states: “A complaint has been received from residents of the mohalla that a part of the property of Old House No.103/New 1039, Soodan Mohalla, has collapsed from the road side. The remaining parts of the building are also in a dilapidated condition, or might fall at any time due to the rainy season. In view of the above circumstances, the Commissioner, Municipal Corporation, Ludhiana, in exercise of powers vested under the PMC Act, 1976, directs you to immediately demolish your dilapidated building/part at your own level and submit a compliance report in this regard to the office. If you do not demolish the building immediately without any further delay at your own expense and if due to this any untoward incident or loss of life/property occurs, you will be solely responsible for the same and no claim will be accepted by the corporation. Therefore, after receiving the notice, demolish your dilapidated building immediately.”

As The Tribune team visited the area to take stock of the situation, residents expressed resentment against the government for not listening to their grievances.

“It was the ancestral house of Anand Mahindra, owner of Mahindra Group. Though no one was staying in the building for decades, the structure had been in a poor shape and the owner should have demolished it at his own level to prevent the collapse. Some portion of it was also occupied illegally by residents. Now, almost half of the building has collapsed and the remaining structure is hanging in between and if it’s not immediately demolished, the remaining portion may fall and endanger the lives of area residents,” said Premlata Singla, a resident.

The residents said after the incident, MC officials reached the place and put up a notice on the building, asking the owner to demolish the same at his own.

“If the MC is really bothered about safety and security of residents, the building needs to be demolished immediately. If no step is taken, its other portions may also fall anytime. If any tragedy happens, who will be responsibile,” she said.

Another resident, Raj Kumar, said an old structure near the collapsed building site was also in dilapidated state for the past many years. Even roofs of the building had already collapsed in the past and now, walls are hanging and literally waiting for a tragedy to happen.