Illegal temple hall collapse leaves three dead, 8 injured

  • | Thursday | 21st February, 2019

A new temple hall of stone blocks was being constructed after dumping debris on the riverbed to create a 15-foot-high platform. Of late, residents of the area thought of renovating it and building a second temple besides a hall. A contractor was given the contract.”Santosh Patil, additional commissioner, Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC), said, “The civic body had not given the permission to construct the second temple and the temple hall. We are trying to locate the people behind the construction work.”The police said the stone blocks were being fixed unevenly with a chemical. We will suo motu lodge a police complaint as three people have been killed in the slab collapse.

PIMPRI CHINCHWAD : Three labourers were killed and eight others suffered injuries on Wednesday afternoon when the slab of an under-construction unauthorized hall of a Mahadev temple in Pimple Gurav collapsed.The deceased have been identified as Chidamma Poojari (30) of Khadki, and Mantosh Das (30) and Premchadn Rajwar (35) of the labour camp at Vishalnagar in Pimple Nilakh. The injured persons are Kamlesh Kamble (18), Ayappa Sugad (40), Dhananjay Dhotre (24), Yogesh Masalkar (20) and Seva Sahu (30) of the labour camp at Vishalnagar in Pimple Nilakh, Malamma Poojari and Nilamma Poojari of Khadki, and Samar Sardar, whose address is yet to be verified.The Mahadev temple was built way back in 1967. Of late, residents of the area thought of renovating it and building a second temple besides a hall. They did not take permission of the civic body for the work, nor submitted any building plans. The construction of the second temple was completed sometime backCorporator Shashikant Kadam said, “A sabhamandap (hall) having dimensions of 15ftx30ft was being built as a part of the temple renovation project of Samasta Gavkari Bhairavnath Trust for the past three-four months through public donations. A contractor was given the contract.”Santosh Patil, additional commissioner, Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC), said, “The civic body had not given the permission to construct the second temple and the temple hall. We had served a notice to the people concerned in November to stop work, but its construction continued. Appropriate action will be taken after conducting investigations into the matter.”After visiting the construction site on Wednesday, Patil said the second temple could be in the floodline area, where no construction was allowed. “We will know exactly about it after checking maps and documents,” he said.The old Mahadev temple is near the crematorium in Pimple Gurav, along the Pavana river. A new temple hall of stone blocks was being constructed after dumping debris on the riverbed to create a 15-foot-high platform. The slab of the hall collapsed around 2.30pm and large stone blocks scattered around the place.Senior inspector Prabhakar Shinde of the Sangvi police said, “The injured persons are being treated at the Yashwantrao Chavan Memorial Hospital, Aundh civil hospital and a private hospital. We will suo motu lodge a police complaint as three people have been killed in the slab collapse. We are trying to locate the people behind the construction work.”The police said the stone blocks were being fixed unevenly with a chemical. The blocks got separated and fell, triggering the slab collapse.Rajan Patil, joint city engineer, visited the spot and ordered the residents to clear the area of all construction debris.Former NCP corporator Rajendra Jagtap said, “The temple hall construction began three months ago on the grazing land in serial number 94.”He said the stone structure was supported only by bamboo poles and they could not bear its weight.

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