The Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC) has suspended a senior fire department officer and ordered a departmental inquiry into his alleged role in issuing a fire no-objection certificate (NOC) to the administrative building at the Moshi garbage depot, where a building collapse earlier this month claimed nine lives.
Event Context
In an order issued on July 28, Pimpri-Chinchwad municipal commissioner Dr Vijay Suryawanshi has placed fire station officer Rushikant Hiraman Chipade under suspension with immediate effect, citing prima facie serious misconduct, negligence and dereliction of duty in the discharge of his official responsibilities.
Team Analysis
The Moshi garbage depot tragedy was reported on July 8, when a massive pile of garbage fell on the administrative building of the waste-to-energy plant at the depot. Twenty-three people were caught in the incident. Five employees managed to escape immediately, while rescue teams pulled out nine survivors from the collapsed structure over the course of an 84-hour-long operation. Nine others reportedly died.
source
According to the suspension order, Chipade was responsible for scrutinising building plans, conducting site inspections, assessing fire safety measures, and issuing provisional and final fire NOCs for buildings under his jurisdiction. The civic body alleged that while the building permission department had approved only a ground-plus-zero (G+0) administrative building with a built-up area of about 500.51 square metre, Chipade issued the final fire NOC for a ground-plus-two (G+2) structure with a built-up area of 2,549.10 square metre (total built-up area of 10,566.60 square metre) without carrying out proper site inspection or verifying whether the construction was in keeping with the sanctioned plans. As per the order, the alleged discrepancies resulted in major deviations from the approved plans including unauthorised additional floors; and were linked to the building where the fatal collapse occurred on July 8 killing nine people. The order further noted that Chipade’s explanation to a show-cause notice issued earlier this month on July 17 was found to be unsatisfactory after examination by the competent authority.
Suryawanshi said, “We have found that the alleged lapses amounted to grave negligence, failure to discharge statutory responsibilities and violation of provisions under the Maharashtra Civil Services Rules; Maharashtra Fire Prevention and Life Safety Measures Act, 2006 (as amended); and National Building Code. This issue was also discussed in the state legislature during which a detailed departmental inquiry was demanded”.
Pending the inquiry, Chipade has been suspended under relevant provisions of the Maharashtra Municipal Corporation Act and Maharashtra Civil Services Rules. During the suspension period, his headquarters will remain at the PCMC headquarters in Pimpri and he will not be permitted to leave without prior approval. He has also been directed not to take up any employment or business during the suspension period, and to cooperate with the departmental proceedings.
Earlier on July 15, the PCMC suspended two senior officials of its environment and engineering department—Sanjay Narayan Kulkarni, chief engineer and head of the environmental department; and Yogesh Sopan Alhat, executive engineer – over alleged lapses linked to the Moshi garbage depot tragedy.
