One more reason for builders to get away

One more reason for builders to get away
DARSHAN DESAI

GANDHIDHAM, Feb 24: In Gandhidham, 100 buildings, most of which constructed in violation of the building norms, collapsed in the January 26 earthquake killing more than a 1,000 people. Yet, not one of the errant builders has been arrested.

Chances of a powerful earthquake striking Gandhidham, categorised under seismic zone five, had always been there. For this very reason, buildings higher than two storeys were not allowed in the town until the mid-eighties.

Thanks to the builder-politician-bureaucrat nexus, scores of buildings later crossed the two-storey mark and went up even to six floors. And the majority of buildings that came crashing down here on January 26 were high-rises.

Gandhidham Police Inspector K K Desai, drawing inspiration from the stance taken by the superiors, says he has received only two complaints from the affected people and that he has promptly registered the First Information Report (FIR). ‘‘We have collected the samples from the debris, and only after the tests show prima facie evidence can we make arrests,’’ says Desai.

The inspector concedes that police itself can become a complainant, like it does during raids on liquor and gambling dens, but in the same vein, argues, ‘‘We become the complainant in cases where there is nobody to complain. In this case, there are so many affected people and they can always lodge an FIR.’’He just shrugged when told that by the time more people gather the gumption to take on the builders by lodging a complaint, the evidence lying in the debris would have been cleared. All over the town, the clearance of the debris, in the meantime, is going on at a frantic pace.

Even in the two complaints in the case of the Harikrupa Building near the Old Court and the Mohan Complex near Nehru Park Inspector Desai says the investigation will take at least two months. The complaint about the Harikrupa Complex was lodged by Ashwin Agrawal, a shipping agent, on February 19, while in the case of the Mohan Complex, it was filed on February 14, by one Ghanshyam Meghnani.

Asked where the samples of the building material would be taken for testing, Desai says, ‘‘We are waiting for the government to tell us. Till then, it will be in our custody.’’ About the action against officials of the Gandhidham Development Authority (GDA), who sanctioned the buildings, the Inspector said, ‘‘All that will come later during investigations.’’

However, the Kutch District Collector has confiscated all records of the GDA, while the Urban Development Department has asked GDA Secretary in-charge Govind Shivdasani and Assistant Secretary in-charge B Anandani to proceed on leave and surrender their cell phones. New appointments have also been made in their place.

Judicial Magistrate (First Class) of Gandhidham A T Kanani, in a related development, has asked the local police to submit by April 9 a report on buildings constructed in violation of the age-old practice of constructing only one-plus-one floor. This follows a complaint by Ravinder Sabarwal before the court on February 9. Sabarwal alleges that the official machinery seems to be giving ample time to the guilty to sweep clear the evidence.

Former city BJP president K S Joshi, who lost his foster son in the Nirman Complex crash where 25 others also died, alleges, ‘‘The police were refusing to even accept a complaint. How can they expect people to come forward to lodge the FIR? In such situation, it is the police who should take the initiative.’’ Adds Dinesh Thakkar, a local resident, ‘‘Not just initiative, it is the duty of the police.’’