Mumbai: At least 15 persons including four children, all belonging to families of labourers, were killed after a compound wall collapsed on temporary houses built at a construction site at Kondhwa area in Pune in the early hours of Saturday.
Among the deceased are 10 men, one woman and four children — three boys and one girl. Three people, two men and one woman, were taken out alive and are being treated at a hospital for multiple serious injuries.
All the victims were members of labourer families hailing from Bihar. The victims were residing in a transit camp of a construction site, police said.
Prakash Gore, station officer of the Kondhwa fire station said, “The incident took place at around 1.40 am on Saturday following incessant rains. We recovered 14 bodies from the debris while another body was recovered by the NDRF personnel around 5.30 am.”
The police registered a case of culpable homicide against directors of two construction firms, and arrested two builders.
While the Maharashtra government announced compensation of Rs 5 lakh for the kin of the dec-eased, Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar anno-unced ex-gratia of Rs 2 lakh. “We have arrested Vipul Agarwal and Vivek Agar-wal of Alcon Landmark,” said Anil Patil, senior pol-ice inspector, Kondhwa Police Station.
At least four cars and a two-wheeler parked near the wall were damaged due to the wall collapse.
A case of culpable homicide has been registered against the developers of two residential projects, site engineers and labour contractors in connection with the incident.
“Injured victims identified as Ajay Kumar Dilip Sharma (19) and Pooja Rajesh Sharma (25), are admitted in Sassoon hospital. They are stable, said an on-duty medical officer.
Mayor of Pune, Mukta Tilak asserted that her administration was giving a ‘work stop’ order to ensure that no work can be carried on at the construction site. Maharashtra chief minister?Devendra Fadnavis in a tweet said he has directed Pune collector to carry out an in-depth inquiry.
Governor Ch Vidyasagar Rao also expressed grief over the incident. “I was deeply saddened to know about the death of innocent workers, including women and children in the incident of collapse of a compound wall of a residential complex in Pune. Every life lost in incident was precious. My heart goes out to the kin of all those who lost their loved ones, and wish speedy recovery to the injured,” he said in a statement. State Congress chief Ashok Chavan urged the Maharashtra government to extend all help to families of the dead and injured.
The deceased have been identified as Alok Sharma (28), Mohan Sharma (24), Aman Sharma (19), Ravi sharma (19) Laxmikant Sahani (33), Sunil Singh (35), Ovi Das (2), Sonali Das (6), Bhima Das (38), Sangita Devi (26), Ajit Kumar Sharma (7), Rekhal Kumar Sharma (5), Niva Devi (30), Dipranjan Sharma and Avdesh Singh.
Pune district officials said ex gratia will be given to the next of kin of the deceased as per provisions of the Disaster Management Act.
