Bring down ‘dilapidated’ portion of Poonam Mall in 24 hours: NMC to owner company
| Date :18-Aug-2019 |
The collapsed portion of the slab of Poonam Mall, Wardhaman Nagar.
Staff Reporter:
Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC), on Saturday, declared parts of Poonam Mall in Wardhaman Nagar as ‘dilapidated’ and asked the owner company M/s Indo Pacific Software & Entertainment Limited to demolish the dilapidated parts ‘in 24 hours’. Lakadganj Zone office of NMC issued the notice to M/s Indo Pacific Software & Entertainment Limited through Vijaykumar Harchandani, Managing Director, after a part of Poonam Mall in Wardhaman Nagar collapsed around Friday midnight, killing a watchman and injuring two others. On Saturday morning, NMC officials inspected the site and found that the construction on northern and southern sides of theatre in the building was ‘dilapidated’.
“As the pucca RCC construction of theatre of 3,571.10 sq mtrs on the third and fourth floors of the building collapsed, the construction of 7,142.20 sq mtrs on the first, second, third, and fourth floors towards the eastern side of the said building has become ‘dilapidated’. Hence, bring down the said construction in 24 hours,” stated the notice issued by Lakadganj Zone office of NMC to M/s Indo Pacific Software & Entertainment Limited.
The said ‘dilapidated’ construction should be brought down to ensure public safety. If the said direction is not implemented immediately, NMC will raze the dilapidated construction and recover the expenditure for the same from the company, the notice stated. In that case, it further added, the said company will be liable for legal action. MLA Khopde demands action Krishna Khopde, East Nagpur MLA, and Pradeep Pohane, Chairman of Standing Committee of NMC, also visited the site on Saturday morning. Khopde spoke with Sheetal Teli Ugale, Chairperson of Nagpur Improvement Trust (NIT) and Abhijit Bangar, Municipal Commissioner, over telephone.
He asked both of them to initiate action for demolition of the ‘dilapidated’ parts of the mall. Vijay Humne, Deputy Municipal Commissioner (Market), and his team also was present at the site. Khopde asked them to initiate action to ensure public safety. In a press release issued on Saturday evening, Khopde wondered why NIT did not conduct structural audit of Poonam Mall in all these years.
He also demanded compensation to the family members of the deceased watchman, and the persons injured in the collapse of a part of the mall around Friday midnight. According to him, the work of renovation was going on in the mall for six months. Khopde was accompanied by corporator Duneshwar Pethe, former corporator Hitesh Joshi, Manoh Agrawal, Ashish Dhawde, Bhagwan Khandwani, Ghanshyam Tiwari, J P Sharma, Dhawal Joshi, Lalit Limbachia, Mahendra Katariya and others.