2 engineers suspended; panel set up

MUMBAI, August 5: Chief Minister Manohar Joshi today told legislative assembly that two engineers have been suspended in connection with ...

MUMBAI, August 5: Chief Minister Manohar Joshi today told legislative assembly that two engineers have been suspended in connection with the Govind Tower collapse and that hunt was on for the owner, Jairam Chavla. 8220;Whenever he is caught, he would be charged with culpable homicide,8221; the chief minister said.

Replying to the two hour debate initiated by the leader of the opposition, Madhukarrao Pichad, Joshi admitted that Govind Towers, that collapsed killing 35 people on Monday evening, was packed with irregularities. He also announced that a committee comprising additional chief secretary Home, Housing secretary, Municipal commissioner and other experts would dig out the history of the building and bring out the truth.

The chief minister said from the acquisition of land on which the building was constructed to various sanctions granted to it in its short life of less than two decades, the collapsed building had thrown many questions that need to be answered. He said preliminary investigations revealedthat the land on which the building was built was leased out to Chavla by the Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority MHADA to build a godown for a gas company. However, when Chavla sought to construct a residential-cum-commercial building, MHADA was not even consulted.

Besides, the FSI granted to the building was in contravention of the set rules for suburbs. The whole design of the building was even more curious. The building was made to accommodate, commercial, residential and also a hotel. Such multiple use of a building did not fit into any rule book, the chief minister said. Though he agreed that the BMC officials who granted the permissions should be held responsible and punished, he said this was not possible unfortunately because most of them had already retired.

In order to prevent such incidents in future, he said, the government would soon set up a repair and reconstruction body and create transit camps for the residents of dilapidated buildings located in suburbs. Besides, thegovernment would also consider a proposal seeking to introduce licensing system for builders.

Meanwhile, the toll in the collapse today rose to 35 with the Fire Brigade recovering another body this morning from the debris. The number of injured at the last count was 23. Said Chief Fire Officer V V Rao, 58 persons were extricated. 8220;Only one more body, that 13-year-old Darshana Dabholkar, is believed to be trapped,8221; he said.

However, police sources have not ruled out the possibility of more bodies being trapped in an open gutter which is now filled with debris. Till late night, fire brigade personnel were busy with their search. The collapse has left behind at least four homeless orphans. The Rathod and Kothavle families which resided on the second floor have lost three and two members respectively. Two children each from both the families are the only ones alive now.