Pandal for Maharashtra CM event at Pune’s Purandar collapses, no injuries

The pandal was being erected for the outreach programme ‘Shasan Aplya Dari’ in Pune’s Purandar tehsil to be held on Thursday. The government has postponed the event due to ‘unavoidable reasons’.

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Pandal collapse mars Maharashtra government's outreach programme 'Shasan Aplya Dari. (File)

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Hours before the government postponed its outreach programme ‘Shasan Aplya Dari’, which was slated to be attended by Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and both deputy chief ministers – Devendra Fadanavis and Ajit Pawar – on Thursday, a large section of the pandal erected for the event collapsed in Pune district early on Wednesday. No casualties were reported in the incident, the police said.

According to local police officials, the incident took place around 3 am on Wednesday when a number of workers employed by a private contractor for the job of erecting the pandal were still working on the site. The programme was to be held at Jejuri in Purandar tehsil which falls under the Baramati Lok Sabha constituency.

“The large pandal is being constructed in six parts. The structure of one of these parts collapsed around 3 am on Wednesday. Fortunately, neither any of the workers nor any police personnel on duty at the site were under this part of the pandal. No casualties were reported in the incident. The contractor started the work to reconstruct the part later during the day,” said an officer from Pune Rural police.

The officer added that the pandal, which is being constructed to accommodate over 20,000 people, consisted of metal frames and fabric covers and partitions.

A letter issued by the Chief Minister’s Secretariat on Wednesday afternoon stated that the scheduled programme at Jejuri has been postponed due to ‘unavoidable reasons’ and that the revised date of the event will be communicated soon.

CM Eknath Shinde launched the ‘Shasan Aplya Dari’ (government at your doorstep) initiative in May with an aim to provide benefits of government schemes in one place. As part of this, the government also launched a portal called ‘Mahalabharthi’, where all the state schemes will be enlisted. The district administrations have been asked to organise two-day camps to make people aware of the initiative.

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