INDORE: A tragic building collapse in the Ranipura area has sparked serious concerns regarding safety and building regulations in the city’s congested streets. This incident resulted in two fatalities and a dozen injuries, drawing attention to the issue of unauthorized constructions and the neglect of maintenance in the region.
Many structures in Ranipura, including older buildings, either lack proper permits from the Indore Municipal Corporation (IMC) or have violated existing regulations by adding unauthorized floors and encroaching on public spaces. According to official sources, the three-storey building that collapsed on Monday night was one of these irregular constructions.
IMC Additional Commissioner Rohit Sisoniya stated that the owner had been granted a permit in 1999 for a ground-plus-one-storey structure. “However, he constructed an additional third floor, including a tin-shed structure atop the approved area,” he explained.
Officials reported that the building was positioned within a narrow street at 47/3, Daulat Ganj, Kosthi Mohalla, Gali Number in Ward 60, Zone 11. This cramped location complicated the rescue and relief operations for teams that arrived promptly after the IMC control room received reports around 9:15 PM on Monday. While the upper parts of the building seemed stable, the real issue lay beneath. Residents relayed that the structure was a family-owned property with ongoing disputes among the brothers who owned it.
Significantly, the basement had faced persistent water seepage for many years, creating chronic waterlogging problems. This continuous saturation severely compromised the foundation’s integrity, ultimately leading to the collapse.
According to residents, the owners neither maintained the basement properly nor reported the seepage issues to the IMC. This negligence contributed to the gradual deterioration of the building’s structural stability, culminating in this tragic accident.
