Harshraj Singh

Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, August 13

A day after the unsafe multistorey building of RT Woolen Mill on RK Road here collapsed, the work to dismantle the remaining portion of the building has begun on the site. The MC has ordered the building owner to get the remaining portion demolished.

The civic body had got the adjoining vehra and another building vacated yesterday for safety reasons as a portion of the unsafe building was still standing on the site. Big cracks are visible in the front portion (which had not collapsed) of the factory building.

An MC official said the factory was constructed in over 1,000 sq yard area. Municipal Town Planner Monika Anand said the building owner had got the work started to demolish the remaining portion of the building.

Two patients still under treatment at hospital

Meanwhile, dwellers of the adjoining vehra have been forced to suffer a lot after the incident took place.

Debris of the collapsed building had fallen on rooms in the vehra, leaving at least 10 injured, including two children.

Seven seriously injured patients were rushed to Mohandai Oswal Hospital. Of them, a woman, Pooja, and her two-year-old son Arush were still undergoing treatment at the hospital on Friday. The woman was discharged from the hospital but she was admitted to the hospital again as her condition was not good.

Ravi, brother of Pooja, said: “My sister has received serious injuries on head and other parts of the body. She has undergone a surgery. My nephew Arush had also received a major head injury. I just want from the authorities concerned to ensure free treatment for my sister and her son.”

Notably, the dwellers, including Sunil Kumar Yadav, Mulkhan Verma, Pawan Kumar, Govind and Manoj, were also injured in the incident. Kin of the injured have demanded that compensation be paid to all the injured persons so that they could get the required treatment.

Dwellers staying in dharamshala

Following the incident, all vehra dwellers were asked to vacate their rooms. They were shifted to a nearby dharamshala by the vehra owner. They said they used to pay the monthly rent of the room but now, they were staying in dharamshala.

A dweller said: “We have vacated the vehra as a portion of the collapsed building was yet to be demolished. Now, the vehra owner has made an arrangement for us at the dharamshala. We are 200-250 people staying in the dharamshala. We have been asked not to return to the vehra till the entire portion of the building was demolished. We are forced to suffer more after the adjoining factory building collapsed. We don’t know for how many days we will have to stay in dharamshala.”