Three booked after building collapse at Prayagraj's Swaminarayan temple
Police registered an FIR against three people after a three-storey building collapsed within the Swaminarayan temple complex in Prayagraj.
No one was inside the building when it came down on Friday night, and no injuries or fatalities were reported, officials said on Sunday, Aug 30.
On Saturday, George Town police station registered the FIR against Shivam Chauhan, Pratap Chauhan and Namrata Chauhan, based on a complaint by Devendra Kumar Mishra, zonal officer of the Prayagraj Development Authority. Charges were filed under Sections 290 (negligent conduct in pulling down, repairing or constructing buildings) and 324(5) (mischief) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, and Section 26 of the Urban Planning and Development Act.
The complaint alleged that Shivam Chauhan, along with his father, Pratap Chauhan, and mother, Namrata Chauhan, had obtained approval for a nine-floor, two-basement hotel and begun excavation for the first basement.
According to the FIR, an old temple with a weak foundation and walls stood adjacent to the construction site. The temple priest and the hotel owner had agreed to dismantle and rebuild the temple wall, but before this could happen, excavation for the basement caused rainwater to accumulate in the pit, leading to the wall's collapse, police said. Prima facie, the hotel owner appears to have failed to follow prescribed standards during the excavation, resulting in the collapse, police added.
