Rescuers are racing against time to locate eight people trapped under the collapsed building at the Moshi garbage dump in Pimpri-Chinchwad more than two days after a huge pile of old waste slid onto the structure due to heavy rains. Officials involved in the inter-agency rescue operation said on Friday that they had been unable to contact the trapped workers and believed they may not have survived.
As civilian and rescue teams worked to clear the unstable part of the building, to create a safe passage to enter and locate the trapped staff, one survivor’s account raised questions about whether warning signs had been ignored.
Read also| One dead and eight still trapped in Moshi building collapse
The ground and two-storey building housing the administrative offices of the waste-to-energy plant in Moshi collapsed on Wednesday afternoon after the old pile of waste began sliding down the building at 1:30 p.m. Five employees fled when the building began to collapse. Nine were later rescued. While one worker died.
The National Disaster Response Force said on Friday that rescuers could not be sent inside until the structure was stabilized. “The current priority is to remove the dangerous portion of the building in a controlled manner and stabilize the structure as much as possible. This will allow us to create a safe corridor for the entry of rescue personnel,” NDRF Commander Praveen Datt said.
Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC) Commissioner Vijay Suryawanshi, while reviewing the rescue operation at the site, said, “The building is in a very unstable condition. Our priority is to reach the trapped people as soon as possible, but the structural integrity cannot be compromised. The work to remove the dangerous portion and stabilize the structure is progressing. All agencies are working at full capacity, and the required machinery, manpower and technical support have been provided.”
The Moshi facility is a waste-to-energy (WTE) plant operated by a private company under an agreement with PCMC. One of its employees who escaped Wednesday’s tragedy with minor injuries claims warning signs were ignored.
Speaking to the media on Friday, survivor Vijay Sapkal said the area received heavy rains for three days, claiming that garbage was gradually creeping down the huge pile. “On the morning of the accident, a large amount of waste was sliding and officials and employees were discussing the situation,” Sapkal said. “Everyone knew it could be dangerous.”
He also claimed that officials and employees are considering measures to deal with the situation. He added that the vehicles parked in the basement were removed before the accident occurred, and barriers were placed on the road in front of the parking area. However, Sapkal says, the building was not evacuated.
PCMC Commissioner Vijay Suryawanshi denied any suggestion of a disaster in the making. “When we spoke to the company management, they told us that there was no indication of any danger before the incident occurred. If they had sensed any danger, they would not have entered the building or sat in the cafeteria for lunch. Had there been any warning, appropriate precautions could have been taken.”
“The building was constructed and operated by the company and if they were aware of any potential threat, they should have acted accordingly. PCMC did not direct or force anyone to remain inside the building,” he added.
According to Suryawanshi, “I also spoke to some senior staff, who said that there was no prior indication and the entire incident unfolded within seconds. However, we will examine all these aspects as part of the investigation.”
