AHMEDABAD: A four-member committee, one of them an engineer from Gujarat Vigilance Commission (GVC), has been formed to probe the circumstances under which four persons died during a demolition drive undertaken by the local civic body, the Municipal Commissioner said today.
Four persons were killed after a 20-feet wall of a two -storeyed building collapsed during the demolition drive launched by the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) in Nikol area yesterday. The building was being razed as it was blocking the broadening of a road under a development plan.
AMC Commissioner D Thara said she has written to the GVC requesting the anti-corruption watchdog to depute its Chief Engineer P P Vakharia to the probe committee.
Vakharia will head the panel which will be required to submit its report in 2-3 weeks, she said, adding three AMC Deputy Commissioners will be the other members.
"We have formed a committee with four members, which will be headed by a GVC official. Three Deputy Commissioners will be the other members of the committee. We have written to the GVC to allow Mr Vakharia to head the committee. The GVC has been involved so that we could make an independent inquiry into the matter," Thara told PTI.
She said the civic body has collected evidence in form of videos from the spot to ascertain what exactly happened during the drive. The videos have been shot by civic officials and local residents.
Meanwhile, police said the bandh, called in Nikol by local residents and shop owners to protest the drive and also the deaths, passed off peacefully. Most of the shops located in areas affected by demolition remained closed.
"Mostly shops were located in areas near the demolition sites were closed. Overall the bandh remained peaceful," said Krushnanagar Police Inspector C R Sangada.
The Gujarat High Court suspended the drive till April 21 after some locals rushed to it with a petition claiming Government can expand the road without razing structures.
No arrest has been made yet in connection with the incident, police said.