Man killed as building collapses in Punjab’s Kharar

A JCB operator died after remaining trapped under debris for over seven hours after a three-storeyed building collapsed during construction on an adjoining plot on the Kharar-Landran road in Kharar town of Mohali district on Saturday.

The building housed the office of a realtor and is located near the JTPL City project. Since it was a second Saturday, not many people were present in it. Police have registered a case of negligence against realtor Praveen Kumar Ambika, who owned both plots, and other persons, who have not been named.

Identified as Harvinder Singh, aka Baboo, 48, of Morinda, the JCB operator was digging the ground when he hit the foundation of the adjoining building, leading to the collapse, around 12:30pm. He along with the machine got trapped under the debris.

Police sources said three people had managed to run out of the building just before it collapsed, but three others got trapped as well.

Police, fire brigade and Mohali district administration officials rushed to the spot and began the rescue operations with the help of locals. Two trapped men, identified as Prem Bahadur and Harjit, were rescued within just over half an hour and shifted to hospital. However, Harvinder and another man, also identified as Harjit, a salesman, remained trapped. However, they were able to communicate with the rescue teams, said Kharar sub-divisional magistrate Himanshu Jain, who was among the first to rush to the spot.

Later, a 25-member team of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) from Pinjore reached the spot and took over the rescue operation. Reinforcements came in from Ludhiana later in the evening.

While Harjit was rescued around 8:20pm, having remained under the debris for nearly eight hours, the rescue teams made last contact with Harvinder at 7:30pm. His body was finally brought out at 10pm.

An NDRF official said Harvinder’s head got stuck between pillars, which made it difficult to rescue him and later bring out his body.

“One person called Prem Bahadur from Khunimajra, who was injured in the incident, has been admitted to the civil hospital. His arm is fractured,” said Kharar senior medical officer (SMO) Surinder Singh. Meanwhile, Harjit, who too, was rushed to the civil hospital, was stated to be out of danger. The other Harjit, who had received minor injuries, was discharged after medical aid.

Harvinder’s body has been kept in the mortuary of the civil hospital, where the postmortem will be conducted on Sunday.

Mohali deputy commissioner Girish Dayalan said besides the local authorities and the NDRF team, the Western Command of the Indian Army was also on standby. “The NDRF arranged some machines for clearing the debris from a local contractor,” he said. In all, eight JCB machines and five cranes were pressed into service.

Meanwhile, a contractor claimed his six men were working at the spot, who are nowhere to be found. However, Dayalan said the NDRF has conducted the canine search of the debris twice and no other person is trapped. “We are checking about the labourers who were claimed to be working at the spot. It’s only after the debris is removed that we can be sure that there is no other casualty,” he said.

Punjab chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh has asked the Mohali additional district magistrate to conduct a thorough probe into the incident and submit his report within a week. The CM has also ordered that the entire cost of the treatment of those injured in this incident would be borne by the state government.

DC Girish Dayalan said he, too, has marked a magisterial inquiry into the reasons behind the
collapse.

“According to initial information, a JCB machine was involved in the construction of a basement in an adjoining plot, which led to the building collapse. We are checking if necessary permissions were obtained,” said
Dayalan.

The collapsed building housed the office of Ambika Infrastructure, a real estate development group. Its owner, Praveen Kumar Ambika, a resident Shivalik City in Kharar, was in Delhi when the mishap took place.

The adjoining plot, too, belongs to the same company. Ambika planned to build a commercial tower there, and digging work was on to lay its foundation.

The owner planned to shift his office to the new building and demolish the one that collapsed on Saturday, said police. He had reportedly got the building plans approved for building a commercial tower with a basement.

Besides a basement, the building that collapsed had partial construction on its third floor, which also housed two mobile towers in the open area.

According to police, when the JCB operator hit the foundation, the building came crashing down as it was unable to bear the weight of the two mobile towers.

An FIR has been registered against Ambika and others.