5 people are dead, four people have not been rescued yet

Five people died after being trapped under the rubble of an unfinished building that collapsed on Tuesday (October 22) in Babusapalya, Bengaluru. According to officials, another four people have not yet been rescued. The dead have not yet been identified.

On Wednesday, police said the deceased were from Bihar. Efforts are underway to rescue the remaining people, a police official said. On Tuesday evening, rescue teams found the body of one Armaan (25 people).

According to the police, 70-80 people are involved in the rescue operation.

Apart from them, nearly 100 fire and safety officers, National Disaster Response Force and State Disaster Response Force are involved in the relief operation, said Director General of Fire Service Prashant Kumar Thakur.

Rescue teams use sniffer dogs to locate trapped victims.

Closed-circuit television footage of the collapse shows the pillars supporting the building giving way, with the building tilting to the side.

According to officials, the owner of the building, Muniraju Reddy, had constructed three floors of the building without permission. They claim that the quality of the building was also substandard.

“Building such a large building on a 60×40 plot is a great crime. Officials sent notices to the owner three times, but sending notices alone was not enough. They should have taken stringent action. This taught us a great lesson. Once the rescue operation is completed, we will take action within two days,” Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar told the media after inspecting the site along with Labor Minister Santhosh Lad and BBMP Commissioner Tushar Girinath.

“We will take stringent action against the construction contractor, building owner and erring officials,” Shivakumar said.

The deputy CM also said that a survey would be conducted to identify illegal construction sites in the city. “We have informed tax office officials that people who do not have a building permit should not be able to register their properties. People do this to buy sites at low prices and sell them. RERA has the power to stop such illegalities,” he said.

Meanwhile, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) issued a yellow alert for the city on Wednesday, forecasting moderate rainfall and thunderstorms.

“The sky is generally cloudy, with moderate rainfall and thunderstorms, some heavy at times, very likely. The maximum and minimum temperatures are expected to be around 29°C and 20°C, respectively,” the forecast reads.

“The synoptic condition includes a circulation over Tamil Nadu extending to 5.8 km above mean sea level. Under its influence, southern parts of Karnataka are expected to receive widespread rainfall till Thursday, with coastal Karnataka likely to receive quite heavy rainfall and northern parts of Karnataka likely to receive scattered rainfall till the same day,” IMD director CS Patil told The Hindu.

According to the IMD director, Belagavi, Dharwad, Haveri, Gadag, Shivamogga, Chikkamagaluru, Chitradurga, Davangere, Tumakuru, Chickballapur, Kolar, Bengaluru, Ramanagara and Mandya districts will receive moderate to very heavy rainfall in isolated areas on Wednesday, according to the IMD director.