Even as the eight persons buried under the debris of the collapsed three-storey building at the Moshi garbage depot remained untraced till Friday afternoon, angry relatives confronted civic officials, while the Sharad Pawar-led NCP demanded that an FIR be registered against Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC) officials and contractors for alleged negligence. The NCP’s Pimpri-Chinchwad unit, led by Deputy Chief Minister Sunetra Pawar, also backed the demand.
Municipal Commissioner Vijay Suryavanshi, who visited the accident site on Friday afternoon, was confronted by relatives upset over the speed of the rescue operation and the alleged lack of updates from the administration.
“We have sped up the rescue work and all efforts are being made by multiple agencies to trace those missing,” the civic chief assured them.
Meanwhile, several political leaders visited the accident site to review the rescue operation and interacted with the families of the missing persons.
Shirur MP Amol Kolhe of the NCP (SP) alleged that the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board had repeatedly alerted PCMC officials about the dangers of constructing the administrative building close to the garbage mound.
“I have information that the pollution board repeatedly alerted the PCMC. Besides, a garbage mound can only rise up to 25 metres, but the one that collapsed was much higher than the stipulated limit. A case of negligence should be registered against civic officials and contractors,” Kolhe said.
Like Kolhe, the Sunetra Pawar-led NCP also demanded the registration of an FIR against officials and contractors.
“It is clear that the three-storey structure was constructed in close proximity to the garbage heap, which was an invitation to disaster,” said PCMC Leader of Opposition Bhausaheb Bhor of the NCP.
Relatives of the missing persons also alleged violations of safety norms.
“The building was constructed close to the garbage mountain. The PCMC did not follow safety rules to ensure the safety of those working at the depot,” said Santosh Kumbhar, a relative of Mahesh Kumbhar, who remains missing.
However, the PCMC denied allegations of violating safety norms.
Speaking to The Indian Express, PCMC City Engineer Sanjay Kulkarni, who also heads the civic environment department and oversees the Moshi garbage depot, said the three-storey building was constructed at least 30 metres away from the garbage mound.
“The building was constructed following all prescribed norms. It is wrong to say that adequate safety measures were not taken. Besides, the garbage mound has existed there for years. We keep clearing it. Soil is added to the garbage, which hardens it. As a result, even trucks and JCBs can operate on top of it while clearing the waste in phases,” he said.
The PCMC attributed the garbage slide to heavy rainfall, and when asked why no retaining wall had been built to prevent such a slide, Kulkarni said, “Since the building was at what we believed was a safe distance from the garbage heap, we never considered constructing one.”
Of the 18 people trapped under the debris, nine have been rescued and one person has been confirmed dead, while eight remain missing. Rescue teams have located another body but said it would take time to retrieve it. One body was recovered from the debris on Thursday.
The accident occurred on July 8 when, amid heavy rain, a portion of the waste mountain at the Moshi garbage depot collapsed onto the administrative building of a waste-to-energy project. Twenty-three people were inside the building at the time, with five managing to escape.
National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) officials said one portion of the building had collapsed while another had been lifted off the ground, creating a highly unstable structure. Rescue teams have created an access duct through the lifted section to reach the area where the eight missing persons are believed to be trapped.
The accident occurred on July 8 when, amid heavy rain, a portion of the waste mountain at the Moshi garbage depot collapsed onto the administrative building of a waste-to-energy project. (Express photo by Soham Shah). 
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