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Alandi bldg falls like pack of cards, opens can of worms

Police claim structure, intended to house management institute, was shoddily constructed and did not have municipal nod

Chaitraly Deshmukh

Posted On Thursday, November 05, 2009 at 04:11:56 AM

The building that caved in on Wednesday morning

The labourer who was injured in the incident, Ajay Sharma. Municipal authorities said the supporting pillars of the building were very thin and weak

Within hours after a four-storeyed building being constructed for an educational institution caved in on Wednesday morning at Alandi, investigations by Vishrantwadi police revealed that it was a shoddily-built, unauthorised construction.

One labourer sustained minor injuries in the incident after he was trapped under the rubble.

The building that was to house Yashvant Institute of Management caved in around 8 am, trapping labourer Ajay alias Pintu Sharma (24) under the debris.

Sharma was installing glass panes on the windows when the entire building came crashing down. Sharma was rescued a couple of hours later by the fire brigade.

Sub-inspector B V Mohite from Vishrantwadi police station said the entire episode was a fallout of negligence on the part of the building owner Vijay Murlidhar Tapkir (40) and contractor Tukaram Manikrao Joshi (45). He added that a formal police case has been filed against them.

Mohite said investigations have revealed that the plan of the building had not been approved by the Alandi Municipal Council that covers this area.

However, he refrained from commenting on the cause of the mishap stating that the police would reach a conclusion only after consulting the municipal authorities.

However, municipal officer Pandit Wanjari said, “The construction ap-peared to be shoddy.

It was unauthorised and it appears that the design was not foolproof. Tapkir undertook the construction activity himself, al-though he has no expertise in engineering.

The building was dangerously close to his house and the pillars on which the structure rested were too thin to support the load.

Moreover, a 35,000-litre water storage tank was located on the third floor, increasing the load on the foundation and supporting pillars of the building.

The supporting pillars seem to have buckled under the load and the building came down. We are contemplating filing a case against the building owner.”

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