The building is called Lokhandwala. But it has nothing to do with Versova in Mumbai. This namesake in Jamalpur is at best an eyesore. The Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) began demolition of the seven-storied building under construction in this congested walled city area,in the Sindhiwad neighbourhood near old FD High School,on Saturday afternoon. While its very name may have attracted people to book flats,the civic authorities feel they cannot take a chance for another Kalupur-like collapse. Deputy Municipal Commissioner I K Patel said the demolition of the building started on Saturday around 12.30 pm after initial hiccups and arguments with the builder. However,he later gave in and the demolition went on till 6 pm. The police bandobast was made available for one day only and the AMC had sealed the building. We had asked for at least three days but the police agreed only for one day, said Patel. Now the demolition work will be taken up in the next week as soon as the police protection will be provided to us,he added. One has to see the spot to believe that a seven-storied building can actually come up in such a congested locality. The road-facing the building,a dead-end,is just 20-foot wide. Builder Salim Khan was not available on the site when The Indian Express team visited it earlier this week. One of the security guards said he hardly visited the place. We do not have his contact number and we do not know where he sits,but he is a very powerful and influential man, said the watchman,preferring anonymity. He said all flats in this building have been booked at a benchmark price of Rs 30 lakh. Sources said the building has come up in place of a school,but the trustees have sold it to bhai with all paper work in place,reiterating that he (bhai) is a very powerful man. The clout that the builder wields is evident from the fact that all windows of half-a-dozen houses around this building were closed,and no resident was willing to talk. There is a well-greased mechanism working between the builder and the AMC member at lower and middle levels,who look the other way even as they know that no provision of General Development Control Regulations is followed in the case, they said. But the deputy commissioner said the demolition would resume in the next 10 days. Interestingly,Gaekwad Haveli police station,under which this area falls,denies having received any request from the AMC for protection. With the new impact fee law in effect,the builder might have been hopeful of getting away by paying this fee,a local resident said. On January 27,2011,a five-storied building had collapsed in the Sodagar ni Pol on busy Relief Road in Kalupur,killing four persons and injuring more than 20. The building was under construction against all norms and no one was living in it. The incident was followed by suspension of a couple of town development officials and the then municipal commissioner I P Gautam had set up an inquiry. Names of local strongmen like the Bata Brothers and former Latif aide,Mehboob Senior,had emerged in the case. At least six accused were booked for culpable homicide. Now,they are out on bail and probe is still on with no conclusion as yet.
