BENGALURU: On late Tuesday night, the foundation and ground floor of a floor building collapsed leaving the dwellers and neighbours shocked and scared.
The incident happened in Bengaluru city's West zone, Mahalakshmi layout assembly constituency, Kamalanagar behind Shankar Nag bus stand.
According to Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagar Palike (BBMP) officials, the cracks developed around 10 pm and the foundation started to collapse. Since the building was constructed on Al elevated plane it was in a vulnerable location.
This was one of the buildings listed and identified by BBMP as a vulnerable building to be demolished. The building had four floors and eight families were staying in it.
After the BBMP had served them notice to vacate as the building is weak, two families had vacated, six continued to stay. They demanded the owner return back their lease and advance amount summing upto around Rs 1-1.5lakh before they vacate.
The BBMP is also searching for the building owner identified as Rajeshwari, who had taken a loan from Syndicate Bank.
Minister Gopalaya told the media on Wednesday morning that the dwellers in the building and those staying in around 10 houses in the neighborhood were vacated on Tuesday night and shifted to government school, which has been converted into makeshift accommodation place. Some others went to their relatives' homes. The operation to clear the area went on till around 2 am.
"The building will now be demolished and the work has already started. The government will give compensation and help the dwellers. The owner and contractors are being booked and FIR will also be registered. All measures are being taken for the safety of the people," he said.