Five buried alive in Porvorim

Five buried alive in Porvorim
Case Slapped On Developers As Illegal Wall Falls
Preetu Nair | TNN

Panaji: Five migrant labourers were buried alive and eight injured, some of them seriously, when part of an allegedly illegal retaining wall came crashing down on three illegal structures in Porvorim. All the victims are migrant workers from Karnataka and Orissa and were staying at the site for the last two years. According to locals, the accident occurred at about 6 am on Sunday.
Officials present at the site said that the rooms were constructed by builders Savio D’Souza and Sandeep Kalangutkar in complete violation of PWD rules. A PWD official at the site said, “The retaining wall isn’t of the proper width and has not been constructed as per the required standard.”
Shantinagar ward panch member Kartik Kudnekar alleged that the tragedy was an example of the abject failure of the panchayat authorities to act on a resolution of the gram sabha to take action against the wall.
“On May 18, the gram sabha had passed a resolution to take action against the ‘illegal’ retaining wall. Though the permission for the wall was 1.5 metres, they had constructed a wall of over 6 metres,” admitted Socorro village panchayat secretary Peter Martin.
Martin added, “We had planned to conduct an inspection and then issue notices to the builder, but before that the tragedy struck. Everyone of us, including the government, is responsible for the tragedy.”
Meeting later on Sunday afternoon, the Socorro panchayat decided to ask Devashree to stop construction activity on the three buildings and the retaining wall. The builders have also been asked to produce all documents to the panchayat within three days. Besides, the panchayat has issued notices to D’- Souza and Kalangutkar to remove an illegal room and two toilets adjacent to the retaining wall.
The meeting was called by sarpanch Shital Arolkar and was attended by all 11 panch members who condemned the incident. They would soon be submitting a report to the block development officer.
North Goa additional collector Swapnil Naik said, “We have directed the police to file a complaint against Devashree Real Estate Developers, which built the retaining wall, as well as D’Souza and Kalangutkar, who allowed the workers to stay illegally.” The Porvorim police have registered a case against both builders. PWD to file report on mishap
Panaji: North Goa additional collector Swapnil Naik said they have asked the PWD to submit a technical report regarding the wall collapse in Provorim on Sunday that buried alive five labourers. Based on the report, the authorities would take further action.
“On the face of it, it appears that the labourers who were staying in the illegal structures had blocked the holes created in the retaining wall to release water. Due to this there was pressure on the wall and it collapsed,” added Naik.
Recollecting the incidents of the morning, Dinesh Gadekar, who lives a few metres from the place of tragedy said, “I heard a loud sound and few screams. I rushed out of the house and saw that part of the retaining wall had crushed the structures adjacent to my house and people were buried inside.” He immediately called the fire services and informed the panch. Construction labourers working at adjacent sites along with fire service personnel rescued those trapped in the debris. Among the dead was fivemonth pregnant woman Nagma (22) and her husband Umar Sab (26). Renuka Jadhav (32) and her daughter Madhavi (15) also died in the accident. However, husband Nagaraj and son Kamlesh (10) escaped with minor injuries. Another person, Ramesh Nayak (22), was brought dead to the hospital.
The injured – Ranjit Kanchan (20), Dilip Kumar (17), Jaffar (18), Ram Mordge (20) were admitted to Asilo hospital, Mapusa and some later shifted to GMC. Abdul and Fatima who were reportedly staying at the site are still missing.
Meanwhile, Devashree Real Estate Developers, who had built the retaining wall, has released compensation to the injured and deceased. “We have decided to give Rs one lakh to the deceased and Rs 25,000 as compensation to the injured,” said the main contractor Tony Fernandes.

June 9, 2008, The Times of India, Goa edition