No lessons learnt from past building collapse incidents

Harshraj Singh

Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, August 12

As the MC learned no lessons from buildings’ collapses in the past, another incident took place on Thursday morning when an unsafe multi-storeyed building of RT Woolen Mill, a factory in Industrial Area A on RK Road here, collapsed.

MC Commissioner orders inquiry

• MC Commissioner Pardeep Kumar Sabharwal has marked an inquiry into the factory collapse incident.
• The Commissioner inspected the incident site and ordered to get adjoining two buildings, including a vehra, vacated.
• As a front portion of the unsafe building is still standing, the Commissioner has also ordered to get it demolished.

At least 10 persons, including two children, were injured in the incident when the debris of collapsed building fell on adjoining migrant labour quarters (vehra). About 15-16 rooms in the vehra were damaged. Besides, two more buildings, including a shed adjoining the factory, were also damaged in the incident.

A dweller of adjoining vehra, Sidhu said, “I was having breakfast when the incident took place around 8.45 am. Suddenly, the factory building collapsed and debris fell on the rooms in the vehra. We started running to save lives. People were screaming. A number of persons were injured.”

Around 250 persons were living in the vehra.

Incident could have been averted

Now, the role of MC officials concerned is under scanner as the incident could have been averted if timely action was taken to get the unsafe building demolished.

In May 2020, the factory building had caught fire and cracks had developed in it. The building pillars had also become weak after the fire incident. At that time, firefighters had also expressed concern over the bad condition of the building.

The MC had woken up only more than a year after the fire incident to declare the building unsafe when councillor Swarandeep Singh Chahal complained about the dilapidated condition of the factory. Chahal had expressed concern that the unsafe building may collapse anytime as its wall had shifted from its original place. He had demanded from the MC to get it razed to avert any tragedy but to no avail.

After the B&R branch conducted the survey, the unsafe building was, however, sealed by the MC’s building branch officials on August 5. But, some dwellers of adjoining vehra said the seals were later broken allegedly by the building owner. Sources said the building owner was backed by ruling Congress leaders.

A vehra dweller said, “After the seal was broken, somebody told us that the building has been repaired. But, it was not. After the incident, seals have been applied to both gates of the building today again.”

An MC officer said, “The factory was lying non-operational after the fire incident but the building owner was planning to make it operational again. A wall of the factory was already in a bad condition.”

MC building inspector Navneet Khokhar said, “We had got the factory vacated as a security guard with his family were also staying there. The building was sealed. We had also got the rooms adjoining the factory vacated.”

He added, “After the fire incident, the steel of pillars had got damaged. The factory owner was asked to get the building demolished. The debris of collapsed walls has fallen on both sides of the factory.”

More unsafe buildings in city

In July, MC Commissioner Pardeep Kumar Sabharwal had written to the police to take action to get the unsafe buildings vacated in the city. The MC had conducted a survey and found 142 unsafe buildings. However, the majority of these unsafe buildings have not been demolished, posing threat to many lives.

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