By A two-story showroom in Balaji Enclave on the Zirakpur-Patiala road collapsed on Monday. Nobody was injured in the incident. The reason for the collapse was said to be illegal digging of a basement in an adjoining plot.
In a complaint to the police, Estate Officer (EO) of the Municipal Council (MC), Sandeep Tiwari, stated that an ‘unknown’ person was digging the basement in a plot near the showroom, which led to the collapse of the showroom. The EO also said action be taken against the owner of the plot where the basement was being dug.
Sources in the civic body said the basement was being dug illegally and the plot owner did not take the civic body’s permission for the same. The sources also disclosed that the plot owner had obtained permission for the construction of a residential building, but was constructing a commercial building.
The showroom’s owner, Gurpreet Singh, said digging in the adjoining plot, owned by Jyoti Sandhana, began on November 30. He added that the area near the showroom’s foundation was dug up to 10-feet due to which the foundation became weak and cracks appeared in the showroom’s building. At around 4.30 pm on Monday, the building collapsed.
Gurpreet Singh further stated that he had rented out the showroom. A chemist shop was located at the ground floor, while a lawyer had his office on the first floor while another room on the second floor was vacant.
Vineet Kumar, the owner of Kamoj Medical store which was located on the ground floor said he came out of his shop after cracks appeared on the walls. Following this, the building collapsed in no time. “Medicines and other material worth around Rs 35 lakh was destroyed after being buried under the debris,” he added.
Zirakpur Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP), Amroz Singh, said that they received a complaint from the MC, following which a case was registered against the plot owner under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
“We initiated an inquiry. There were some residential buildings nearby. We received a call from the local residents when cracks appeared on the walls of the showroom following, and we asked the people to vacate the buildings. Nobody was injured in the incident,” he said.
