Portion of land caves in at construction site in Thane; none hurt

Thane, Jul 18 (PTI) A portion of land caved in at a construction site in a residential colony in Maharashtra's Thane district on Saturday morning due to excavation work for a building project, civic officials said. No casualties or injuries were reported in the incident, which occurred at Bhaskar Colony in the Naupada area around 8.30 am, according to the civic Regional Disaster Management Cell (RDMC). "The excavation for a building project caused a section of land to cave in. This left a tree and a compound wall in the premises of the adjacent building in an extremely dangerous condition," said Yasin Tadvi, chief of RDMC. A team comprising senior disaster management officials, personnel from the Public Works Department (PWD), Fire Brigade, and Tree Authority rushed to the spot with utility vehicles and a hydraulic lifter. As a precautionary measure, the dangerously tilted tree was cut down and cleared by the Tree Authority staff. "The developer has initiated immediate measures to stabilise the soil and prevent further cave-ins. Further necessary action will be taken by the construction and town planning departments," Tadvi added. PTI COR ARU