Open sewer, narrow lanes hinder ops as teams search for survivors
GREATER NOIDA: Officials of the eighth battalion of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) estimate that the rescue work will continue at Shahberi till Thursday evening.
The force is undertaking round-the-clock rescue operations since 9.30 pm on Tuesday, when two buildings collapsed on each other at Shahberi village in Greater Noida.
Dozens of people are feared to be trapped in tonnes of debris of the two buildings and until Wednesday evening, the force was able to extract five bodies from the mishap site.
“The task has become challenging to extract the bodies from the rubble. We are drilling at different spots in the debris to trace bodies. The dog squad and sensors have not been able to detect movement of survivors, but we are still hopeful. A review for continuing rescue will be taken up on Thursday,” said PK Srivastava, commandant of the eighth battalion based in Ghaziabad.
The force has deployed nearly 160 personnel, dog squad and specialised equipment to trace survi- vors. “The task is challenging as the bodies can only be located visually so we are drilling. It is to retrieve the bodies properly otherwise they can be mutilated. It is taking us 4-5 hours to retrieve a body,” Srivastava added.
The force based at Govindpuram in Ghaziabad, nearly 13km, took 40 minutes to reach Shahberi and the movement of their vehicles was also hampered due to irregular development in the village which houses towering high rises.
The police vehicles and the fire tenders also faced similar issues as they got stuck amid the nonmetalled narrow bylanes which hardly provided any turning radius. Open sewer manholes on non-metalled roads also posed a potential risk to personnel.
The civil police, fire department personnel and the NDRF faced difficulty in reaching the spot, as there were no streetlights. On directions of district magistrate BN Singh, the electricity department later lit up the area through a makeshift arrangement.
The connecting roads to the interiors of Shahberi village are non-metalled with gaping sewer pits lying uncovered and sewage spread around. The locals said that the dilapidated condition of the area is attributed to rampant unauthorised construction activities due to dozens of high-rises mushrooming inside the village.
“Unauthorised constructions have been going on for years. Hardly any norms are followed. There are no proper roads, sewage and other basic facilities. Yet, the high-rise construction is mushrooming and people are lured to purchase flats here,” said Mahendra Chaudhary, a social activist from Shahberi.
“The civil police and the administration had tough time clearing the site for commencing rescue operation. People were not ready to clear the area and arrived in large numbers to click pictures and prepare videos of the fallen buildings. The personnel lost much time and energy to reach the spot,” said Pankaj Gautam, who arrived from nearby Gaur City.
The surrounding areas of the site has nearly half a dozen readyto-move and under-construction high-rises.