Four killed in house collapse

Ahmedabad, Oct 18: The Kanojia household perhaps had no premonition of the terrible tragedy waiting to occur as they celebrated a Navratr...

Ahmedabad, Oct 18: The Kanojia household perhaps had no premonition of the terrible tragedy waiting to occur as they celebrated a Navratri ceremony. It took barely moments for the house throbbing with life one minute to turn into a house of mourning the other as the fragile construction in Seth Jamnabhai Baghubhai Estate near Mahakali temple in Girdharnagar came crashing down on Monday afternoon. Four persons were killed and eight injured.

Relatives and members of the Kanojia family had gathered for a religious ceremony as a part of the Navratri celebration when the incident occurred.

Those dead include Shobha D Kanojia 23, Maya S Kanojia 16, Rashmi D Kanojia 5 and Poonambhai S Kanojia 26. The eight injured were admitted to Civil Hospital. These include Sandhya S Pardeshi 35, Nisha J Kanojia 22, Prakash B Kanojia 28, Pravin Balkrishna Kanojia 28, Kaushik R Pardeshi 8, Ashish Ashok Pardeshi 15, Rani R Kanojia 60 and Shantaben D Kanojia 23.

Shital Radheshyam Kanojia, a family member, said the first batch of nearly 25 to 30 people had completed their lunch and were sitting in the verandah, while another 12 to 15 persons were having lunch when the roof caved in. He claims the incident could have occurred due to the vibration of a moving train about an hour ago. The house collapsed around 2.20 pm.

Poonambhai Kanojia, one of the injured, said he was about to leave when he heard a loud sound and saw the roof collapse and his clothes were suddenly splattered with mood. His son Kaushik is also among those injured.

Navnitbhai Darji, who lives nearby, says the family was engaged in the laundry business and had been staying there for over 80 years. The house that collapsed as well as others are located in what used to be a mill compound. They are in control of a trust.

Ghanshyambhai, a son-in-law of the Kanojia family, says they had requested the trust on several occasions to get their houses renovated. However, their demands were always turned down, he said.

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Fire Brigade officials, who returned after an over six-hour-long operation said the house was made of limestone. Hardly any cement had been used in the construction. Moreover, the house was very old too. Both these factors together could have led to the collapse.

Meanwhile, Municipal Commissioner K Kailashnathan and his deputies A R Bhatt and Pinakin Dixit as well as other officials were present on the spot. Among others who rushed to the spot were DCP Vinod Mall, ACP D S Sanghwan, Mayor Malini Atit and Deputy Mayor Haresh Bhavsar.

Expressing shock at the tragedy, Malini Atit said rather than find fault, the priority should be to save those who were buried under the debris.

She commended the efforts of Fire Brigade officials and the administration for rising to the occasion. She called for strict enforcement of legal provisions to pull down dilapidated structures in the city so that such tragedies did not recur.