Cops quiz engineers of construction firm

Police questioned two engineers of Prompt Landmarks, the firm that had bagged the contract from Bharatiya Sanskriti Darshan Trust for the construction of a building to expand Ayurved Cancer Research Centre. Police are probing whether the slab collapsed due to any structural or technical fault and who to hold responsible for the mishap.

Additional Superintendent of Police Ravindrasinh Pardeshi said offence was not yet registered in this case, but we have recorded statements of persons concerned. "Investigation is on. We have not yet come to any conclusion for lodging offence," he said.

Thirteen persons, including a woman, had died, while one labourer was seriously injured after an under-construction dome on the fourth floor of Ayurved Cancer Research Centre, Kesnand, collapsed around 2.15 pm Tuesday.

Among the deceased, one Abhishek Patil was an engineer and all others were migrant labourers. After postmortem at Sassoon Hospital, the bodies were handed over to the families of the deceased persons.

The victims were involved in cementing the slab under the dome supported on iron rods, pipes and angles erected from the ground floor to the fourth floor. While the slab work was on, the dome located over the duct crashed along with labourers.

In Jishan's death, parents lose their sole support, body flown to West Bengal

With the death of Jishan Haque (21) in Wagholi, his parents at Baligram in Murshidabad district of West Bengal lost their only support in their old age. Jishan is survived by his parents and three sisters, two of whom are married. His cousin Haque Asif Iqbal and Samrat Ali came to Pune on Wednesday to take his body.

"Jishan comes from a poor family. His parents are engaged in farming at their native village. He was the only son of his parents. The family is in deep sorrow," said Samrat at the Sassoon hospital.

"We are taking Jishan's body to West Bengal by flight. He was working in Pune for the last two years. We hope to get air fare and hospital expenses from his employer," he added.

Meanwhile, as per the figures at the Labour Commissionerate, Pune, 31 labourers died in mishaps at 29 construction sites in the city between April 2011 and March 2012.

However, according to Bhartiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS), many incidents are not registered with the police, so the number of victims could be more. BMS has demanded a detailed investigation into the Wagholi incident.

"A fair probe should be done. Experts should be involved to check the quality of construction material used, whether any construction rules were flouted or was there any defect in the design of the building and whether the support given to the slab was not proper," said Sachin Mengale, BMS, secretary.

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