TEAM HERALD
CANACONA: Once considered prime property in the heart of Canacona town a little over a month ago, the Phase-3 project of Ruby Residency complex at Chaudi is now in ruins. One building has been reduced to rubble, a part of a row house has been demolished and two other buildings and some other row houses have been abandoned.
The collapse of one building on January 4 not only led to the deaths of 31 workers and injuries to many others, it also destroyed the aspirations and investments of scores of owners who are now at the mercy of missing builders and slow-paced investigations.
At present, the debris from the collapsed building, which was shifted to the adjacent paddy fields, continues to lie there and virtually no effort has been made to remove them from the fields.
Even though the government had declared three adjacent buildings as unsafe on the second day of the tragedy itself, the structures continue to lie in the same precarious position.
Apart from three arrests, law enforcement agencies have made little progress in nabbing others accused in the collapse of 22 flats of the five-storeyed building.
Two inquiries, one by police (later handed over to the CID) and another by government-appointed Jha Commission have been set up, but the lengthy legal procedures could well prolong the misery of the bereaved and affected families, as well as the investors. All 82 flats and row-houses at the Phase 3 project of Ruby Residency had been sold and most investors had paid the entire amount and were to get possession of their homes from January 15 onwards.
Then deputy town planner of Canacona Prakash Bandodkar and acting CMC
chief officer Prashant Shirodkar, who was also the Canacona deputy collector at the time of his arrest, are the only two government officers arrested in the case so far.
Two municipal engineers, Ajay Naik Dessai and Ashank Naik Gaunkar, were also suspended by the government for their acts in issuing licenses to the collapsed building.
Also interesting is the fact that police has so far been unable to question two former chief officers of CMC, Pradeep Naik and Agnelo Fernandes, even though they are now serving as deputy collectors elsewhere in the state.
The police are also being blamed for their failure to nab the builders, Pardeep Singh Birring and Jugdeep Kumar Sehegal, even as Birring moved the court to prevent the government from demolishing two of the buildings which have been declared unsafe.
The only person from the construction company to be arrested so far is Vishwas Dessai, after he surrendered to the police when two of his bail attempts were unsuccessful. Dessai along with Shirodkar and Bandodkar are lodged in judicial custody at Sada Jail.
