Police have registered a case against two officials of a private energy company over the collapse of a three-storey structure at a waste-to-energy project in Maharashtra's Pune district that claimed nine lives, officials said on Tuesday.
Ashok Gupta, project head of Antony Lara Renewable Energy Pvt Ltd, and Vijay Sapkal, the safety officer at the plant, have been booked under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita sections 105 (culpable homicide that does not amount to murder), 125 (rash or negligent act that endangers human life) and other relevant provisions, they said.
The company operated the facility at Moshi in Pimpri Chinchwad where the incident occurred on July 8.
The complaint, registered by Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC) officials, stated that no safety measures were taken despite knowing that the heavy rains could pose a danger to the sanitary landfill (SLF) at the location.
"As no security measures were adopted, a portion of SLF (mound of legacy waste) collapsed on the three-storey building on July 8, claiming nine lives," the FIR states.
The three-storey administrative building of a waste-to-energy plant run by the PCMC collapsed after the mound of garbage crashed onto the structure like a landslide, killing nine individuals.
On Monday, the civic body stated that a preliminary inquiry into the incident showed that an occupancy certificate had been issued only for the ground floor on the firm's request.
The Maharashtra government has constituted an independent high-level technical inquiry committee to investigate the incident, PCMC Commissioner Dr Vijay Suryavanshi said.
The company prima facie failed to ensure safety at the plant despite continuous heavy rainfall and did not take adequate precautions even though a massive mound of legacy waste was located adjacent to the residential building that collapsed, he said.
Suryawanshi said the Urban Development Department has appointed an independent committee to conduct a "fair and comprehensive technical inquiry" into the incident and recommend measures to prevent such accidents in future.
The committee will be headed by Divisional Commissioner Sheetal Teli-Ugale and includes the regional officer of the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board, D N Singh of the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay's structural engineering department, and environmental and solid waste management expert Anil Kumar Dixit.
The assistant commissioner (disaster management) will serve as the member secretary, the civic chief said.
"The government has constituted a completely independent committee to investigate the incident and suggest measures to prevent such incidents in future," Suryawanshi added.
(With inputs from PTI)