Ludhiana building collapse & blaze: Civic body has no map, sketch of building, rescue teams grope in dark

The still smouldering debris at the mishap site on Wednesday. (Gurmeet Singh)

The disaster relief teams and volunteers at the factory building collapse site in Mushtaq Ganj of Ludhiana on Wednesday rued the fact that even after three days of the tragedy, the Ludhiana Municipal Corporation had failed to provide them with any map or sketch of the building which made their task only tougher.

“The structure of this building seems so weird and technically incorrect that work is getting difficult. We cannot say that even 40% of the debris has been removed yet. There are huge beams and iron rods which even JCBs are failing to move,” said an official from National Disaster Relief Force (NDRF) requesting anonymity.

Thirteen bodies have already been pulled out from the debris since Monday after the building of Amaron Polymers collapsed following a major fire.
“Three firemen are still missing. Also, there can be other workers. Chemicals and inflammable material are still burning inside. A map or sketch would have made it easier for us to locate remaining bodies,” said an official from the NDRF.

Two JCB machines, bigger than the normal ones, have been hired on rent by Ludhiana Municipal Corporation, along with the labourers, to assist NDRF and fire department in the operation. “We do not have such machines. We have got them on rent,” said Dharam Singh, superintending engineer of MC who was present at the site. “The debris is beyond our initial estimates. Interiors of the building have not even been touched yet. As per eye witnesses, the three firemen still missing entered through a hole from behind. Thus, they must be at the extreme end of the building where machines are yet to reach,” he said.

Some NDRF members at the site, who had also worked at the rescue site of Shital Fibres in Jalandhar which collapsed in 2012, said, “We had pulled out many people alive then because that building had tilted a bit during the collapse. But this building here has fallen straight like a pack of cards which makes survival next to impossible.”

The Ludhiana MC does not have any records of the building as the owner allegedly never got the approval of the three floors added to the building, originally a double-storey. Confirming this, Ludhiana MC commissioner Jaskiran Singh said, “We have checked all the records, but there is no map available with us. We had no issues in giving it to rescue teams if we had one.”

Asked if the building was constructed illegally and MC’s building branch failed to act, he said, “The CM has ordered an inquiry. I won’t comment on this.”