This story is from March 23, 2019

Dharwad building collapse: Heads begin to roll, seven HDMP officials suspended

Dharwad building collapse: Heads begin to roll, seven HDMP officials suspended
Rescuers carry a survivor recovered from the rubble of an under-construction building that collapsed in Dharwad on March 19.
DHARWAD: The Karnataka government on Saturday has ordered suspension of seven officials of Hubballi-Dharwad Municipal Corporation for their alleged negligence and dereliction of duty which caused a major disaster in Kumareshwar Nagar of Dharwad.
Urban development minister U T Khader who visited the building crash site at Kumareshwar Nagar on Belagavi road in Dharwad on Saturday announced that based on the preliminary report, he had ordered suspension of seven officers with immediate effect.

Town Planning officer Mukund Joshi, Town planning cell assistant director Ashok Gadag, zonal officer Prabhakar Doddmani, executive engineer V Sridhar, assistant executive engineer Chandrappa, Town Planning cell deputy director B V Hiremath and assistant commissioner (zone-3) Santosh Anishettar have been kept under suspension, pending inquiry.
The minister reviewed the rescue operations and gathered information from the HDMP officials on reasons for the collapse and casualties. Khader said that the government has considered this incident seriously and the regional commissioner has already ordered for time-bound magisterial inquiry headed by the additional deputy commissioner.
Prima facie, it appears that negligence by the officials too is one of the reasons for this disaster. After getting the detailed report, the government will initiate stern action against all those officials involved in certifying the building, the minister said.
The officials across the state have been issued direction to inspect the stability of the multi-storied buildings in their jurisdiction and measures taken for the safety of the people, he added.

Apart from this, Khader said,the government will effectively implement the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016. The Real Estate Regulatory Authority (RERA) makes it mandatory for all commercial and residential real estate projects where the land is over 500 square metres to register with the RERA for launching a project, in order to provide greater transparency in project-marketing and execution. For ongoing projects which have not received completion certificate on the date of commencement of the Act, will have to seek registration within three months, he noted.
Minister visits collapse site
Karnataka water resources minister D K Shivakumar who visited the crash site on Saturday said that the government will come up with new measures to avoid such disasters taking place in public places.
“This incident merits a detailed debate in the assembly and new acts should be framed to ensure safety of the people. Several multi-storied buildings are coming up in metropolitan and two- tier cities and the role of civic bodies is vital in certification. They cannot sit in the AC rooms and grant certificates for the buildings, taking gratification. They should be held accountable if such disaster occurs” he said.
The government will be recommended to introduce a system of issuing fitness certificate to the multi-storied buildings. Under this, the officials should regularly conduct the inspection of the buildings which are 50-years-old and also to the new buildings. This will help the officials to know whether shoddy work or poor quality material were used to construct the building, said Shivakumar.
Such a system is followed in the Regional Transport Office to check the fitness of the vehicle and also in the ESCOMS on the cables being used and lampposts, he said.
On similar lines, the Urban Development Ministry should bring in fitness certificate rule to the buildings including commercial complex, apartments, hospitals and schools, he added.
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