Up against a wall

“I am from the PMC. We are carrying out a survey of labourer camps,” he tells the men.

Khole is part of a team of 50 PMC officials who have been assessing the housing facilities for construction workers after 21 labourers were crushed to death when the walls their huts were built along collapsed following incessant rainfall.

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In the early hours of June 29, the compound wall of a residential complex in Kondhwa had collapsed on the makeshift huts of the workers, killing 15. Forty-eight hours later, around midnight, the compound wall of an educational institution had fallen on the huts of labourers in Ambegaon Budhruk, killing six on the spot.

The incidents led to questions about the poor housing conditions for construction workers and violation of building laws in Pune, prompting the PMC to initiate a survey of under-construction projects in the city.

As a PMC official, Khole oversees all the construction-related work in the regions assigned to him.

Says Additional Municipal Commissioner Vipin Sharma: “The survey is focused on the ongoing construction in the city. The PMC has given permission for construction works, so is aware of the locations. The labourer camps at each of these site are being checked to ensure they are safe.”

Since June 30, a day after the wall collapse in Kondhwa, Khole and his team have visited 441 construction sites — five to eight sites each day — and have marked at least 45 unsafe, issuing directions to the builders to shift the labourers to safer shelters.

At the Samarth Florencia site, Khole, who has been working with the PMC for the last five years, makes his way to the labourers’ camp, inspecting 17 huts and the condition of the walls around them. Dressed in a pair of blue jeans and a jacket, with a bag on his back and a noteback to take down details of the sites, Khole takes about half-an-hour to carry out his inspection, relying mostly on visible signs of damage to examine the walls.
“The condition of these huts is fine but what about the two huts built alongside that wall?” he asks the site engineer, who tells him that those are used as godowns and are not meant for housing workers. He then proceeds to the other side of the wall to check its condition.

Satisfied, half-an-hour later, he moves to the next project.

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In the past hour, Khole has also been receiving frequent calls on his phone — some from office, and many from residents informing the officer about “dangerous walls” in their neighbourhoods.

As a PMC official, Khole oversees all the construction-related work in the regions assigned to him. This is the first time, he admits, that the municipal body is conducting an exercise to inspect the housing facilities for construction workers.

“The area under my jurisdiction is quite large. I am trying not to miss out on any project,” says the officer, now making his way to the construction site next door. At the site, he only finds two labourers, who claim to not know anything about labourers’ camps. Khole then speaks to the security guard, who has no information either.

“This is a problem at many sites,” he complains. “There is no one to give information.”

With no one to help him, Khole does what he has been doing in such situations previously — he checks the compound walls from both sides, looking out for any cracks and whether the wall is tilting — and leaves.

Around 12.10 pm, the junior engineer, arrives at the third construction site for the day. Here, he finds the compound wall in “dangerous condition”, with many visible cracks. He summons the contractor of the site who informs him that the project is being developed by the PMC itself.

Surprised, Khole calls up an officer of the department concerned and informs him about the wall. “I will have to inform them in writing as well. I will do that in the evening when I get back to work,” he says. He has two more site visits to go.