Building collapse: Families want inquiry report to be made public

Family members paying tribute to the victims of the building collapse in Dharwad on Friday.

Urging the State government to make public the inquiry report pertaining to building collapse in Dharwad and questioning the delay, scores of family members of those killed and injured in the mishap took out a protest march in Dharwad on Friday.

It was on March 19, 2019, that an under-construction multi-storey commercial complex located at Kumareshwar Nagar near the new bus-stand in Dharwad collapsed killing 19 persons, and injuring 57. The rescue operation had extended to three days.

The government had ordered an inquiry by then Deputy Commissioner of Dharwad Deepa Cholan, who submitted the report on March 14, 2020. However, the report has not been made public till date.

Families, activists and others staged the protest under aegis of Jana Jagruti Sangha and paid tribute to those who lost their lives. The march was taken out from Kumareshwara Nagar to the office of the Deputy Commissioner of Dharwad.

Raising slogans, the protesters sought to know why the report had not been made public even after two years. They demanded that the government immediately make the report public and provide additional compensation to families of the deceased and persons affected.

Sangha president Basavaraj Koravar alleged that MLAs from Dharwad, Amrut Desai and Aravind Bellad, had failed to mitigate the sufferings of the families and refrained from raising the issue during the legislature session. Interestingly, instead of seeking reply from the government on the floor of the House, Mr. Desai had sought information under RTI, he said.