Building’s construction was poor, says Parrikar
TEAM HERALD
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CANACONA: Claiming that substandard construction had led to the collapse of the building at Chaudi-Canacona that had claimed many lives besides injuring scores of workers, Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar has directed officials to take action against the builders.
DIG O P Mishra said the police had filed a criminal complaint against the builder, contractor and others concerned in connection with the tragedy.
A visibly upset Parrikar, who was present at the site to take stock of the situation, surveyed the collapsed building and its surroundings, before concluding that the building was “poorly constructed”.
Parrikar initially went unprotected to survey the debris and walked through the basements of other building to have a closer look, before he was provided with a safety helmet.
Chief Minister later directed the Canacona police to file FIR against the project engineers.
When asked for his comments, Parrikar said: “Action will indeed be taken, but my first priority is to rescue and bring out the workers who are trapped under the debris.” The chief minister was accompanied by Sports Minister Ramesh Tawadkar, Goa Law Commission Chairman Narendra Savaikar and South Goa SP Prabhudessai.
Parrikar confirmed that 12 bodies had been removed, and 30-40 persons are trapped under the
debris.
To another question on compensation, Parrikar replied: “Everything required will be done, but let us try and rescue as many as possible from the site.”
The chief minister declared both the adjoining buildings unsafe and even advised a family, reportedly occupying one row house in one building, not to enter their home and instead to look for some other temporary arrangements.
“More people could be under the debris and efforts are on to rescue them. Though exact number of people trapped under debris of this four-storey building cannot be known, the builder has told the police that more than 40 workers were working on the site when the structure crumbled,” Parrikar told reporters at the site.
Parrikar also said that the building had collapsed with such an impact that a neighbouring building of Ruby Residency had also developed cracks.
Stating that the “whole design of the building is faulty”, Parrikar suspected that the building had collapsed since one pillar of the building had been erected in a paddy field and it eventually sunk under the weight, leading to the collapse of the building.
“This is total negligence and those accused will not be spared. I will conduct a thorough inquiry into the project,” assured Parrikar.
