Pune building collapse: Notices to be sent to waste-to-energy plant operator, civic dept

Pune, Jul 12 (PTI) The Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation will issue notices to the operator of the Moshi waste-to-energy plant and its own Environment Department over the garbage dump collapse that killed nine, an official said on Sunday. The process of registering an FIR will also be initiated if any lapses are found, said PCMC Commissioner Vijay Suryawanshi. Addressing reporters, Suryawanshi said the civic body has completed the search and rescue operation and has initiated action to fix responsibility for the July 8 incident. “The company operating the plant will be issued a notice seeking details of the permissions obtained for operating the facility and the safety measures adopted. We have also directed that notices be issued to officials of the municipal corporation’s Environment Department, which supervises the project,” he said. He said the civic body has also directed officials to obtain a legal opinion and register an FIR against the contractor, Antony Lara Renewable, if the inquiry finds deficiencies in permissions, safety measures or the execution of the project. Suryawanshi said a high-level inquiry committee will be constituted to conduct a comprehensive probe into the incident. The panel will include environmental experts, structural engineers, or professors from an Indian Institute of Technology. Formal orders constituting the committee are expected to be issued on Monday, he said. The commissioner said the process of disbursing the Rs 10 lakh ex gratia announced by the civic body to the families of those killed has begun. Officials are collecting the required documents and bank account details, and the amount is expected to be “transferred within the next one or two days, possibly on Monday”, he said. The search and rescue operation concluded at around 1 am on Sunday after all those trapped were accounted for, Suryawanshi said. Meanwhile, an official from PCMC said that the two floors of the waste-to-energy plant are unauthorised, as the permission was only for the ground floor. “It is a major lapse, as the two floors were constructed in an unauthorised manner by the contractor,” he said on condition of anonymity. A total of 23 workers were inside the building when a mound of garbage collapsed onto it at the Moshi garbage depot on July 8. Fourteen workers were rescued alive, while nine lost their lives in the incident. PTI SPK NR