Five people have died after being trapped under the debris of the under-constructed building which collapsed in Bengaluru’s Babusapalya on Tuesday, October 22. Another four persons are yet to be rescued, according to officials. The deceased are yet to be identified.
Police officials said on Wednesday that the deceased were natives of Bihar. Efforts are on to rescue the remaining persons, a police officer said. On Tuesday night, rescue teams had recovered the body of one Armaan (25).
According to the police, 70-80 personnel are working on the rescue operations.
Besides them, nearly 100 Fire & safety officers, National Disaster Response Force and State Disaster Response Force are engaged in the relief operation, informed Director General of fire services Prashant Kumar Thakur.
The relief teams are using the help of sniffer dogs to locate the trapped victims.
CCTV footage of the collapse shows the pillars propping up the building give way, after which the building keels to one side.
According to officials the building owner, Muniraju Reddy, constructed three floors of the building without authorisation. The quality of the building was also substandard, they say.
“It is a big crime to build such a large building on a 60x40 site. Officials had sent notices to the owner three times, but sending notices is not enough. They should have taken strict action. This has taught us a big lesson. Once the rescue work has been completed, we will take action within two days,” Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar told the media after he inspected the site along with Labour Minister Santhosh Lad and BBMP Commissioner Tushar Girinath on Tuesday.
“We will take strict action against the building contractor, building owner and erring officials,” Shivakumar said.
The Deputy CM also said that a survey would be conducted to identify illegal construction sites across the city. “We have informed revenue department officials that those who do not have building permits should not be allowed to register their properties. People do this to buy sites at low prices and sell them. RERA is in force to rein in such illegalities,” he said.
Meanwhile, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued a yellow alert for the city on Wednesday forecasting moderate rain and thunderstorms.
“Generally cloudy skies with moderate rain and thundershowers, occasionally heavy, are very likely. Maximum and minimum temperatures are expected to be around 29°C and 20°C, respectively,” the forecast stated.
“The synoptic condition involves a circulation over Tamil Nadu extending up to 5.8 km above mean sea level. Under its influence, southern interior Karnataka is expected to receive widespread rainfall until Thursday, with coastal Karnataka likely to experience fairly widespread rainfall and northern interior Karnataka scattered rainfall until the same date,” IMD director CS Patil told The Hindu.
According to the IMD director Belagavi, Dharwad, Haveri, Gadag, Shivamogga, Chikkamagaluru, Chitradurga, Davangere, Tumakuru, Chickballapur, Kolar, Bengaluru, Ramanagara, and Mandya districts are expected to receive moderate to very heavy rainfall in isolated areas on Wednesday.