(IMAGE – INDIA NEWS)
On December 21, 2024, a building with four floors in Sohana village, Mohali, Punjab, fell down. This caused two people to die and led to worries about how buildings are made and the safety rules in the area.
Incident Overview
A building with a gym on the lower floors and rooms for people to stay on the upper floors fell down at around 5:00 PM. The people who died were 20-year-old Drishti Verma from Theog, Himachal Pradesh, and 30-year-old Abhishek Dhanwal from Ambala, Haryana. Drishti was sleeping in her rented room when the building fell, and Abhishek was working out in the gym. Rescue teams, like the National Disaster Response Force and the Indian Army, worked very hard for more than 23 hours to find their bodies under the broken pieces of the building.
Investigation and Arrests
Early findings show that digging on a nearby plot, owned by the building’s owners, Parwinder Singh and Gagandeep Singh, caused the ground to become unstable, leading to the building’s collapse. The digging started without permission from the Mohali Municipal Corporation and weakened the building’s structure. Both owners are now facing charges for causing death by negligence. Parwinder Singh has been caught, but Gagandeep Singh is still missing, and the police are trying to find him.
Administrative Response
Following the disaster, the Mohali government has started an official investigation, led by Sub-Divisional Magistrate Damandeep Kaur. She is expected to give a detailed report in three weeks. Also, the local council has begun a study to find and fix illegal buildings and unsafe structures in the area. The Municipal Commissioner, T Benith, stressed the importance of taking strong action against rule-breaking to avoid similar accidents in the future.
Community Impact and Safety Concerns
The building collapse has caused many people in Mohali to worry about safety rules and how well they are followed in busy, growing cities. This event shows how important it is to follow construction rules and get proper permission before making changes to buildings or digging nearby.
BY – NIKITA
