The Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC) on Thursday issued a show cause notice to the land owner and labor contractor in the water tank collapse incident at Sadgurunagar, Bhosari.
Five laborers were killed and six others injured when a shift make water tank collapsed around 8 am in Sadgurunagar.
It was found that the labor camp has been illegally developed in the red zone area of Bhosari. Besides the water tank was constructed sans permission from PCMC, officials said.
Shekhar Singh, municipal commissioner, PMC, informed the notice has been issued to the land owner and the labor contractor as per the provisions of the Municipal Corporation Act.
“The entire area is a red zone and no development can be done here. No permission was taken from PCMC to construct the water tank. Further action will be taken after the response is received for the notice,” he said.
The incident took place at the labor camp, where around 1,200 workers reside. The laborers are from Bihar, West Bengal, Orissa, Jharkhand and Uttar Pradesh amongst other states. There is a water shortage problem at the labor camp due to which the water tank was built around a week ago along with temporary toilets and permanent urinals next to the water tank, said the officials.
MD Jamal, a labourer, said that around 15 to 20 people were lying down and injured.
“There was no ambulance or no officer from the company available at the camp. If the injured had been reached in time they would have been alive. The incidents have occurred due to negligence of the contractor. The kin of the deceased should be given maximum compensation,” he said.
As per the labourers, the contractors had installed a large tank about 12 feet long. The water tank was not given enough curation time to achieve adequate strength and was put in use. On Thursday around 4.30 am, several workers started using the water from the tank for morning chores. However, due to alleged poor quality, the tank collapsed and the roof crushed the workers.
DCM Ajit Pawar paid an emotional tribute to the deceased on It is feared that five to seven workers are trapped under the tank in this accident. Police and fire officials have reached the spot, and rescue operations are underway at full scale. Time to time information is being taken from the concerned authorities and necessary instructions are being issued.”
