The incident of the collapse of a three-storey building in Sohana, a dense urban area of Mohali on Saturday evening, in which many precious lives have been lost, has raised many serious questions. Initially, the investigating officers have said that the plot adjacent to this building was being dug and deepened for the purpose of construction, which seems to be the main reason for this accident. The officials of the municipal corporation say that no prior permission was taken from them for digging in the plot. The plot was being dug to make a basement and the building fell on that side. The investigation has revealed that the owner of the fallen building and the plot is the same person and most of the tenants were living in it. It seems that during the excavation work in the plot, proper precautions were not taken and negligence was committed by the owner. By Sunday evening, two bodies had been recovered and the debris was being sifted in search of others. The Army and the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) are helping the administration in this work.
Excavating in dense urban areas without prior approval shows a lack of administrative oversight. In a city like Mohali, mushrooming buildings and unbridled constructions are putting people’s lives at risk. Adequate guidelines are neglected during construction, resulting in such incidents. Keeping in mind the rapid urbanization, the administration should establish a vigilant monitoring system so that no greedy resident can arbitrarily violate the rules. The area in which this building has fallen was called a Mohali village until a few years ago, but the speed with which multi-storied buildings have been constructed or are being constructed here calls the monitoring process into question. Building construction laws need to be strictly enforced to prevent such incidents.
The competent authority should thoroughly investigate the matter to see whether necessary precautions have been taken during the excavation work or not. After this, accountability should be fixed and necessary legal action should be taken. It is necessary that the administration should work promptly to prevent unauthorized constructions in dense areas and ensure compliance with the instructions so that such incidents do not happen again.
