Concrete material falls on under-construction building in Pune, scares neighbouring residents

(Express Photo by Arul Horizon)

Meanwhile, residents of Ganga Florentina Society alleged that the builder of Lodha Bella Vita has not taken adequate precautionary measures. Satyanarayan Parwal, a resident of Ganga Florentina, said, “Just a few moments before the incident, kids were cycling in that driveway. Had they been there when the shed collapsed, a serious mishap would have happened.”

He added that with the concrete material falling inside the Ganga Florentina, speculations are rife that the Vita did not adhere to the laid out construction norms. Parwal added, “The fabrication material they used seems to be of poor quality. Had they used Reinforced Cement Concrete, the incident wouldn’t have taken place. The builders (Lodha Bella Vita) did visit and apologise but we are not sure if the right safety measures would be taken in future.”

Another resident Nitin Boke said, “Fortunately, the incident happened in the afternoon, when except for kids, no one else was there in the area. Because the speed at which the shed fell was very threatening and a thick layer of smoke emanated after the collapse. A car, which had just entered the driveway, barely managed to escape. Yesterday (Monday) a complaint was filed and today (Tuesday) the Pune Municipal Corporation was called to clean the debris.”

However, Boke added, “The PMC personnel who visited suggested that we should shut down the driveway and said such small incidents keep happening.”

Lodha Bella Vita is a residential project being built by the Lodha Group. In a statement to The Indian Express, the company said, “This is a construction zone and keeping in mind such eventuality, we had already installed a two-layered safety measure in place – safety net and steel structure to arrest any fall. There has been no injury or damage of any kind because of the safety structures in place.”