Close shave for 16 families after pillar of illegal building cracks in Kondhwa

PUNE: Panic gripped the residents of an illegal five-storey building at Sant Dnyaneshwarnagar in Kondhwa Budruk after one of the pillars supporting the structure developed big cracks on Monday evening, prompting the occupants to hurriedly evacuate it leaving their belongings behind.
As many as 16 families stayed in the building, have now shifted to their friends/relatives’ houses.
“My family members heard a loud noise around 7pm and rushed out of the building fearing that it might collapse,” Arif Shaikh, a resident of the building, told TOI.
One of the tenants, Rahul Prajapati, said he was reversing his car when the pillar cracked. “I immediately raised an alarm, after which everybody rushed out of the building,” he said.

Though nobody was hurt in the incident, the Kondhwa police have deployed a team at the site to prevent people from entering the building. Senior inspector Anil Patil of the Kondhwa police said, “The move is aimed at preventing thefts here.”
When contacted, builder of the structure Harun Rashid admitted that he did not seek the necessary permissions from the PMC. “They are not essential. A large number of illegal constructions have mushroomed here and no action has ever been taken against them,” he said.
Rashid, however, was quick to blame the owner of the adjacent property for drilling holes in the pillar, thus, compromising its stability. “Only the pillar they drilled holes in developed the cracks,” he said. When TOI reached the house of the neighbour, it was found locked.
Rashid’s relative Javed Shaikh, also a developer, said he was ready to do the needful. As the news of the pillar damage spread, elected representatives started blaming the PMC for turning a blind eye to illegal constructions in the area. PMC corporator Sainath Babar said, “A large number of illegal constructions has come up in Kondhwa, but the PMC is not taking any action despite repeated complaints.”
Dhairyashil Khairepatil, chairman of the Indian Society of Structural Engineers who inspected the building on behalf of the PMC, said, “A non-destructive test will be conducted to check the present strength of the column.”
As the flats in the building were selling for lower prices, many well-to-do people also invested in them. Resident Aslam Shaikh said, “I was working as a paediatric surgeon and a professor in psychology in London. I returned to Pune and purchased two 1BHK flats for Rs 39 lakh each. I had known that the property is illegal, but it came cheap.”
Local resident Shaibaz Punjabi said, “We have appealed to the PMC to conduct a structural audit of the building.”