Bhuj, Gandhidham builders booked

Bhuj, Gandhidham builders booked
D.V. MAHESHWARI

BHUJ, MARCH 2: As public demand for action against builders has snowballed, the Kutch police have finally taken note of complaints regarding building collapses in Bhuj and Gandhidham.

``We have already converted public complaints into tenable FIRs in court and launched search for the accused in cases of strong prima-facie evidence,'' District Superintendent of Police Vivek Srivastava said. Samples of building material have also been collected from seven buildings and sent to national laboratories for testing.

Srivastava and DIG for border range A.K. Singh denied that their department was dragging its feet in taking action against the culprits. ``For the first fortnight after the quake, we were busy with rescue operations and VVIP visits. Now that we are a little free, we have started preparing cases on a war footing,'' they said, adding that to make a strong case against the culprits, the building laws needed to be studied thoroughly.

Bhuj Municipality by-laws are very vague, they said. Contrary to popular belief that in seismic zone V, buildings exceeding three storeys can not be constructed, the building code of Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) and IIT experts said there was no such ceiling. ``In Japan, which falls under the same zone, there exist 90-storey skyscrapers.''

However, this explanation is not acceptable to special public prosecutor for the Centre Ratnakar Dholakia of Bhuj and fellow advocate C.J. Mankad. They have filed a public interest litigation (PIL) in the Gujarat High Court, demanding action against builders, architects, engineers and civic officials. ``We understand that there should be pucca evidence but deaths of hundreds of people is the biggest evidence of poor construction.''

Meanwhile, the police have provided lists of cases registered.

One case regarding Gokul Apartments was filed in Bhuj on Tuesday. All 62 residents of the building died. The builder had permission for only four storeys, but he managed to raise seven. A case has been registered against builders Rameshchandra Sheth, Rajendrakumar Sheth, Keshavlal Sheth, Khoja Alimohmed, consulting engineer G.M. Daljiani and then officials of Bhuj municipality under Sections 304, 120(B) 420, 308, 406, 337, 338 and 467.

In Gandhidham, complaints in connection with collapse of Hari Krupa Complex, Sahil and Mohan Complex were filed. A case was also registered against builders of a complex where three apartments -- Keval, Kinjal and Kinnar -- collapsed.

Inspector Desai said on Thursday that the police station had also received a complaint from one Ravindra Sabharval through a Gandhidham court. The complainant wanted investigation into all the buildings that collapsed in Gandhigham and sought action against Gandhidham Development Authority chairman Jawahar Mehta, Dr Rajendra Shah and the Kutch collector.

Desai said the complaint was sent to the court informing that since specific complaints had started coming to the police and they had started taking cognisance, this complaint concerning all the collapsed buildings was redundant. Three senior police officers were investigating these cases, he said.