Pune housing society wall collapses; 15 dead

Pune: At least 15 people, including four children, were killed and two others injured here Saturday when a portion of a 22-ft high compound wall of a housing society collapsed on adjoining shanties following incessant rains, trapping the sleeping families under the debris, officials said. The incident took place between 1:30 am and 1:45 am at Kondhwa and the victims were labourers and their family members, a majority of them from Bihar, who were living in makeshift shelters at the under-construction residential project where deep excavation work was underway.

The residents of Alcon Stylus alleged on Saturday that they had warned the developer of the housing society about the dangerous condition of the retaining wall of one of the buildings five months ago, but no action was taken. "We had a meeting on February 16 with Vivek Agarwal (a partner at Alcon Landmarks) over the pending works. We highlighted the condition of the wall, told him that it was tilting outward and its construction quality was not satisfactory," a resident of the housing society said.

The Minutes of Meeting (MoM) were sent to the developer firm by an e-mail later, he added.

Pune Municipal Corporation commissioner Saurabh Rao said prima facie, it appears the soil may have loosened due to heavy rain coupled with the excavation work that was carried out "irresponsibly" close to the retaining wall of the housing society. The intensity of the impact increased as many cars parked along the wall inside the society too fell on the shanties, officials said. Pune received 73.1 mm rain on Friday, the second highest in June since 2010.