3 dead, many trapped in Greater Noida twin-building collapse
Greater Noida, July 18: At least three persons have died in a twin-building collapse in Uttar Pradesh's Greater Noida area, police said on Wednesday.
The incident in Shahberi village took place late on Tuesday, apparently due to "too much moisture in the walls of the basement and poor construction material used", an official told IANS.
Three persons, including the builder Ganga Prasad Dwivedi have been taken into custody, he added.
There were a dozen families living in the two buildings and it is feared that more than 50 persons, including labourers were still buried under the debris.
The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) teams that had reached the spot immediately have pulled out three bodies from the rubble so far, the official added.
A state government spokesman said Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has directed the District Magistrate (DM) to expedite the rescue and relief operations and ensure stringent action against those found guilty.
District Magistrate B.N. Singh, Superintendent of Police (Rural) Ashish Srivastava along with policemen from six police stations and NDRF teams requisitioned from Ghaziabad have been at the disaster site since the accident.
The rescue operations were hampered at night due to poor visibility. Union Minister and Noida Lok Sabha MP Mahesh Sharma also visited the crash site.
Rescue dogs, two hydraulic cranes and six bulldozers have been pressed into service to rescue the people trapped inside the debris.
An official told IANS that both the building had been built illegally and construction work on one had been completed after which a dozen families had shifted in it. The other was still under-construction.
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Rahul attends district development meeting, inaugurates project in Raebareli
Raebareli (UP) (PTI): Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday attended a meeting of the District Development Coordination and Monitoring Committee (DISHA), inaugurated a beautification project and laid the foundation stone for the construction of roads in his parliamentary constituency here in Uttar Pradesh.
On the way to Raebareli, the leader of opposition in the Lok Sabha paid obeisance at a Hanuman temple at Churwa and met party workers.
Soon after his arrival here, Gandhi inaugurated a beautification project undertaken by the municipal corporation in Raebareli at the Degree College intersection.
Subsequently, the Congress leader later laid the foundation stone for road-construction projects under the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) and then attended the DISHA meeting.
The meeting focused on various public welfare issues, including schemes such as MGNREGA, Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana and others, officials said.
Gandhi presided over the meeting with administrative officials.
A blueprint for the development of the district was prepared at the meeting and central schemes were reviewed.
This was Gandhi's first meeting with local officials since becoming an MP.
According to the Union Ministry for Rural Development, DISHAs were formed to ensure better coordination among members of Parliament, state legislatures and local governments.
Gandhi left for Lucknow after the meeting.
Later, Uttar Pradesh minister Dinesh Pratap Singh showed a poster to reporters. In the poster, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader took potshots at Gandhi for spending less time in his constituency.
"It has been more than six months, the MP (Gandhi) has not spent a night in his constituency," he said.
"In the last six months, (Gandhi spent) only five hours. Then in five years, it will be 50 hours. It means in five years, only two days?" the poster, titled "Raebareli ke Rahulji", said, requesting the Congress leader to spend a night in his constituency.
