Dharwad building collapse: Death toll rises to 7, 55 people rescued

DHARWAD: The death toll in the building collapse in Dharwad rose to 7 with the rescue team recovering 5 more dead bodies from the debris on Wednesday.
Meanwhile operation to rescue those trapped in the debris of the commercial complex that collapsed on Tuesday continued overnight and by Wednesday morning 55 people including three women were rescued. They were shifted to different hospitals in the twin cities for treatment and medical checkup.
The deceased have been identified as Salim Makandar ( 35) of Hubballi, Ashit Hiremath (28) and his father Mahesh Hiremath (62) of Maratha Colony in Dharwad, Mehboob Raichur (48) of Shivashakti Nagar, Hubballi, Mehboob Desai (55) of Anand Nagar, Hubballi and Aslam Shrikh (48) of Madina Colony, Dharwad.The identity of another victim could not be ascertained by the authorities.
The NDRF team which has taken over the rescue operation was struggling to rescue about 12 girl students who were reportedly trapped in the debris and were responding to the calls. However, heavy concrete pillars and the PoP walls that had collapsed had made access to these girls very difficult. Using the cranes, the teams were trying to shift the heavy pillars and pieces of the walls till late in the evening.
Deputy Commissioner Deepa Cholan said the rescue team after getting information that the girls were crying for help rushed to the eastern side of the building where a cyber café was functioning. “After hearing their voices in the morning, we supplied them glucose and water and stepped up the operation to remove the blocks. However as the time ticked, there was no response from the girls which has caused worry” Deepa said.
Prakash Kudatarkar, the owner of the cyber café told TOI that few girls had come to the café to fill the form for recruitment in Regional Rural Bank on line while some others were engaged in computer games. “My 23 year-old son Anup relieved me for lunch and I came home. Within a few minutes I heard about the crash and rushed to the spot only to see the horrible thing” he said.
It is suspected that still another 20-30 people are trapped under the debris as their relatives were waiting anxiously near the spot.
A contingent of 78 personnel of Natural Disaster Response Force arrived from special flight from Ghaziabad on Tuesday night and joined the team of 32 from Bangalore and immediately commenced the rescue operation. While 28 persons had been rescued till Tuesday night, another 27 were rescued during the night long operation.
The local police and fire force personnel, who had taken up the rescue operation on Tuesday, left the work to NDRF and assisted them. The NDRF officials said they had identified the spots in the debris where people could be trapped and had taken up rescue work there as their priority is to rescue those who are alive. Considering the magnitude of the tragedy, it will take more time to complete the work of clearing the debris, the officials said.
Director General of Police (Fire and Emergency Services) M N Reddy, DIG B R Ravikanthe Gowda and five other officers who arrived from Bengaluru are assisting the rescue operation.
Regional Commissioner Tushar Girinath also visited the spot and reviewed the situation. Being the administrator of the Hubballi-Dharwad Municipal Corporation, he directed the HDMC officials to seize all the documents pertaining to the building and send the material used for the construction for quality check to the laboratory.
In a bid to prevent onlookers from obstructing the rescue work, Police Commissioner M N Nagaraj has clamped prohibitory orders under section 144 in the area on Tuesday evening. It will remain in force till the rescue operations are complete.
FIR FILED
Meanwhile, the police have filed FIR under section 304 of IPC against the four owners of the building and an engineer on Tuesday night. Police Commissioner M N Nagaraj said a special team will arrest those named as accused in the FIR soon.
The building is owned by Renukadevi Construction which has four partners-Basavaraj Demappa Nigadi of Bharatinagar of Dharwad, Gangappa Shivappa Shintri of Savadatti, Mahabaleshwar Shivappa Puradagudi of Savadatti and Ravi Basavaraj Sabarad of Shrinagar, Dharwad. Vivek Pawar of Hubballi is the engineer.
Among the partners Gangappa Shintri is the father in-law of former minister Vinay Kulkarni.