People evacuated from two houses in Sector 38 after wall collapses

The occupants of two houses in Sector 38 were evacuated on Saturday after one of their boundary walls collapsed, and the structural wall of the other developed a crack. Incessant rain allegedly caused a soil cave-in on the plot between them which has been dug up for construction work, allegedly causing damage to the structures.

According to police, around 16 family members of number 746-P, and five of 748-P were evacuated on Saturday afternoon, soon after the incident was reported. Both housed are three-storied properties with basements. Inspector Ved Parkash, station house officer, Sadar police station, said that construction work has been going on in the plot between the two houses for the last few months. “The dug-up pits got filled with rain water and resultant soil erosion caused a boundary wall to collapse,” he said. “No one was injured in the incident and people were evacuated as a precautionary measure in accordance with the situation,” Prakash said.

Yogesh Bairagi (32), the owner of house number 746-P and a captain with a domestic airline, alleged that they repeatedly asked the plot owner and contractor to leave a gap of at least two and a half metres from their boundary wall instead of digging up the entire plot.

“We also called the police control room on Friday as it was raining continuously, fearing an accident. We also alerted the concerned police station about the scenario earlier but no one followed up,” he alleged.

The owner of the under-construction plot could not be reached for comment.