Solan building collapse: Nine years ago, 4-storey building was a 2-room structure

Building owner Balbir Singh said, “There was nothing illegal about the construction. I took all necessary measures for construction. If the building was weak, do you think I would have been staying with my entire family on the top floor? I also lost my wife in this tragedy. It could have happened anywhere.”

Building collapse at Kumarhatti-Nahan road in Solan, many people reported buried under the collapsed building debris in Solan on Sunday. Express Photo by Pradeep Kumar

A four-storey building, Sahaj Tandoori Dhaba, located at Runan Ghoro village along the Kumarhatti-Nahan road, was once a merely two-room structure, through which a small eating joint was being operated in 2010. In the last nine years, its height went up on the same foundations which could support two rooms only, local residents maintain.

Aman Chand, a local shopkeeper near the collapsed building, said, “There was nothing unusual. We have seen here so many triple-storey buildings being constructed overnight. Sahaj Tandoori Dhaba was still under construction. There were four rooms on the top floor. In two of the rooms, the family of building owner Balbir Singh, better known as Sahil in the local area, was residing. Other two rooms were yet to be completed. In the lower portion, an eating joint was being operated. There were other two-three rooms below the eating joint. We did not expect this tragedy ever. Balbir Singh had recently rented out the lower portion of the building to a Patiala resident on a lease period of 11 months.”

Read | Solan building collapse: 11 more bodies retrieved, death toll 14

As a magisterial probe was ordered by Himachal Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur, the local revenue department started scrutinising the documents related to the collapsed site.

Building owner Balbir Singh said, “There was nothing illegal about the construction. I took all necessary measures in the construction. I did not construct the entire building overnight. I was constructing it at a slow pace. If the building was weak, do you think I would have been staying with my entire family on the top floor? I purchased this land in 2010 for commercial and residential purpose. I also lost my wife in this tragedy. It could have happened anywhere.”

Building owner Balbir Singh and wife Archna Devi.

Talking to Newsline near the mortuary at Maharishi Markandeshwar Medical College and Hospital, Singh said, “There was already another construction going on near my building. Heavy machines, including JCB and trucks, used to pass by my building. I am sure the heavy vehicles made an adverse impact on the slope and the recent heavy rain weakened the foundations of my building.”

Singh was booked under Section 336 (act endangering life or personal safety of others) and 304A (causing death due to negligence) of the IPC for building collapse, in which 13 Army personnel along with Singh’s wife Archna Devi were buried alive.

Local tehsildar (revenue officer) Gurmeet Negi said, “The land, where the building was located, falls in the rural area and at Runan Ghoro village. It is not under the Municipal Council, which makes it clear that town and country planning department has nothing to do with it. We will have to see if Balbir Singh informed about the construction of his eating joint along with rooms, which was being rented out to people for short stays, to the state tourism department.”

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Sources said when Singh was asked to produce the documents related to this building and lease agreement with a Patiala man, Bhupinder Singh, he claimed that the documents too were buried in the collapsed building.

Aruna Jaiswal, the owner of Misty Meadows Resort, which is situated merely 20 metres from the collapsed building site, said, “Things have changed over the years. People from the other states come here and run their businesses, especially in hotel and tourism industry, without following any rules. This tragedy should be an eye-opener for the state government.”

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