Pune: A four-storey under-construction building tilting dangerously was kept on the support of two Poclain machines for the whole night on Tuesday into Wednesday morning to avoid a collapse at Durga Colony area in Wakad. A Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation team finally demolished it at 12.22pm on Wednesday.
The building was nearing completion and tilted precariously towards the Kala Khadak link road on Tuesday night. Fire brigade personnel evacuated the family living adjacent to the structure for safety reasons.
Civic officials blamed faulty architecture of the structure for the incident. Additional municipal commissioner Pradeep Jambhale Patil told TOI, “The construction was being done on around 660sqm of land. The developer had taken permission from the municipal corporation. However, there were faults in the RCC design of the building because of which it had tilted towards one side, causing a threat to residents living around it. The building was dangerously built, hence, we had to demolish it.”
He further said, “A proposal will be sent to cancel the licence of the architect and a case will be registered against the developer for risking lives of people living around the building. The civic body will also propose action against the structural engineer.”
PCMC gave permission to start construction of the building on November 3, 2022, said city engineer Makrand Nikam.
Kanchan Gulvelkar, a resident who lived adjacent to the now demolished building, told TOI, “We heard a loud sound of something falling inside the under-construction building around 9pm. We thought it must be related to the ongoing construction. However, when we heard a similar sound again, we came out of our house and noticed that cement, plaster and other material of the building had started to fall. There were deep and long cracks which were continuously increasing on the structure.”
Gulvelkar’s house was renovated two years ago and developed cracks due to the incident. “We waited outside our house until 4.30am while PCMC officials discussed their plan of action. Since it was unsafe to go inside our house, we spent the night at my brother’s residence in Dange chowk and returned late morning,” he added.
Patil said there were no provisions of visiting under-construction buildings in the UDPCR rules, but the city engineer and concerned officials had been instructed to conduct at least two visits to under-construction sites to avoid such incidents in the future.
Rahul Sarvade, who had reported the incident to the fire brigade department, said “A large number of people had gathered at night since everybody living around was scared. They spent the night in fear with the building standing on the support of only Poclain machines.”
Sub-officer of Thergaon fire station Chandashekahar Ghule told TOI, “We were planning to demolish the structure at night because of the deep and long cracks, but shifted it till the morning. We gave support of two Poclain machines to the structure to ensure it does not fall. Our team waited there until the building was finally demolished the next day.”
Developer and owner of the building Sunil Dolwani did not respond to any call or message.
The building was nearing completion and tilted precariously towards the Kala Khadak link road on Tuesday night. Fire brigade personnel evacuated the family living adjacent to the structure for safety reasons.
Civic officials blamed faulty architecture of the structure for the incident. Additional municipal commissioner Pradeep Jambhale Patil told TOI, “The construction was being done on around 660sqm of land. The developer had taken permission from the municipal corporation. However, there were faults in the RCC design of the building because of which it had tilted towards one side, causing a threat to residents living around it. The building was dangerously built, hence, we had to demolish it.”
He further said, “A proposal will be sent to cancel the licence of the architect and a case will be registered against the developer for risking lives of people living around the building. The civic body will also propose action against the structural engineer.”
PCMC gave permission to start construction of the building on November 3, 2022, said city engineer Makrand Nikam.
Kanchan Gulvelkar, a resident who lived adjacent to the now demolished building, told TOI, “We heard a loud sound of something falling inside the under-construction building around 9pm. We thought it must be related to the ongoing construction. However, when we heard a similar sound again, we came out of our house and noticed that cement, plaster and other material of the building had started to fall. There were deep and long cracks which were continuously increasing on the structure.”
Gulvelkar’s house was renovated two years ago and developed cracks due to the incident. “We waited outside our house until 4.30am while PCMC officials discussed their plan of action. Since it was unsafe to go inside our house, we spent the night at my brother’s residence in Dange chowk and returned late morning,” he added.
Patil said there were no provisions of visiting under-construction buildings in the UDPCR rules, but the city engineer and concerned officials had been instructed to conduct at least two visits to under-construction sites to avoid such incidents in the future.
Rahul Sarvade, who had reported the incident to the fire brigade department, said “A large number of people had gathered at night since everybody living around was scared. They spent the night in fear with the building standing on the support of only Poclain machines.”
Sub-officer of Thergaon fire station Chandashekahar Ghule told TOI, “We were planning to demolish the structure at night because of the deep and long cracks, but shifted it till the morning. We gave support of two Poclain machines to the structure to ensure it does not fall. Our team waited there until the building was finally demolished the next day.”
Developer and owner of the building Sunil Dolwani did not respond to any call or message.