Jayesh Solanki, the deputy engineer of Surat Municipal Corporation (SMC), who was arrested earlier this week has emerged as a key accused in the May 24 Surat fire tragedy at a city’s commercial complex, Takshashila Arcade, that killed 22 young students. Solanki had allegedly regularised illegal structures of the three-storeyed complex under impact fee. The Crime Branch, which is investigating the case, is planning to again question SMC architect H M Mangukiya since he had signed the documents regularising the illegal construction at Takshashila Arcade. “The idea of impact fee regularisation by the state government was to legitimise illegal structures made before a particular cut-off date which was March 2011, (March 28, 2011), after due inspection. Firstly, it has emerged that the said illegal structure did not exist as of March 2011 and was constructed only later that year, that is after the cut-off date. Hence it could not have been regularised under the impact fee scheme. Secondly, there was no due inspection done as is to be done in the rules laid down for regularisation,” Surat Police Commissioner Satish Sharma said here. When asked if the architect is also liable to be held responsible given that impact fee forms require the signature of architect, along with that of the engineer, Sharma said, “We’re also looking into it.”
