At least 16 people are feared to be trapped after a building collapsed in Pune’s Pimpri Chinchwad area on Wednesday, officials said. The building collapse occurred as heavy rains continued to lash several parts of Maharashtra, including Pune and Mumbai.
Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Commissioner Vijay Suryawanshi said the building that collapsed was located on the premises of an old dumping ground. The accident occurred after a huge pile of garbage fell on it after heavy rain. Track weather updates
The building was being used as an administrative office for a private company that processes waste at the site on behalf of the civic body, PTI reported, citing officials.
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“The administrative building was located next to an old mountain-like pile of waste. It appears at first glance that due to heavy rains, the pile of waste became loose and collapsed on top of the building,” said Vijay Suryawanshi, commissioner, Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation.
While 20 people were inside the building when it collapsed, four managed to escape. He said he believed up to 16 employees from the private company were inside the building. Rescue teams were able to communicate with those trapped inside, while teams from the National Disaster Response Force and firefighters carried out rescue operations.
He added, “The heavy rains that fell during the past two days caused the old waste to become unstable and slide onto the administrative building.”
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According to Suryawanshi, the administration building is located next to the Sanitary Landfill (SLF) containing old waste near the waste-to-energy plant at Moshi in Pimpri-Chinchwad L.
Heavy rains have caused chaos in the cities of Pune and Mumbai over the past few days, as the monsoon tightened its grip on the region. On July 6, four people, including three from a family, were killed in a landslide and wall collapse, while two others were swept away in separate rain-related incidents as heavy rains lashed the Pune district, prompting authorities to rescue or shift more than 500 people to safer places.
