Another building ‘ on verge of collapse’ in Shahberi village
PANIC A sixstorey building was sealed while three others in the vicinity were evacuated on Saturday
GREATER NOIDA: Panic gripped Shahberi village on Saturday evening after a six-storey building was sealed and three buildings in the vicinity of the one that collapsed were evacuated, following a collapse threat, officials said.
The Greater Noida authority sealed a building constructed by JP Heights around 2.30pm. The building had tilted, due to the weakening of the pillars, officials said.
Around 6pm, authority officials, along with the police, met residents living in the buildings close to the sealed one and asked the 35 families living in the buildings to evacuate their houses as a precautionary measure. Health and fire department officials, including the 108 ambulance service, were rushed to the spot.
“We were informed that the building has tilted, after which, as a precautionary measure, we evacuated buildings close to it. The safety of residents is our priority and we can’t take a risk,” said Kumar Vinit, additional district magistrate.
Avnish Kumar, the circle officer, said a police force was deployed to ensure that residents of the three buildings vacate the place without any incident. “We have requested all the residents living in three buildings to vacate their flats. We told them that if they don’t have a place to go, then we could make arrangements for them. We can’t take a risk with lives of people,” said Kumar.
Shubhangi Rana, 32, who is nine months pregnant and due for delivery on July 24, had a tough time evacuating her flat. Rana lives with her husband and their five-year-old daughter in the building opposite to the sealed one.
“I am due for delivery next Tuesday and we have been asked to evacuate our flat. Our builder has absconded after the evacuation news, because he has also cheated us. I will have to shift to Kanpur with our parents as we don’t have anybody here. There is no electricity, it’s raining heavily and we have been left homeless,” said Rana.
Another resident alleged that it is the fault of the authorities for not keeping a tab on illegal buildings and putting the lives of residents in danger.
“Our builder is absconding as the building is still not complete. Now, the authority has asked us to leave our house by the night, as the sealed building opposite ours has tilted, raising safety issues,” said Abhinav Khare, a resident.
AK Arora, the deputy general manager of Greater Noida authority, said, “The structure of the building is weak. The columns were damaged and had developed cracks. The developer had kept it covered under galvanised iron sheets and metal plates. We have filed a complaint with the police against the developer.”
“This building is dangerous and we will be demolishing it. We are only waiting for people living in the vicinity to evacuate the area so that further mishap can be prevented,” Arora said.
The building has six floors, including stilt parking on the ground floor. There are 24 flats in the building, of which one was occupied.
“We have received a complaint against the developer, Jitendra Pal Singh. No arrest has been made in the case so far and the investigation is going on. We are evacuating the area and have asked residents to inform us about any other building that they may find dangerous,” Akhilesh Tripathy, station house officer of Bisrakh police station, said.