Dharwad Building collapse: Rescue teams' dexterity, dedication lauded

DHARWAD: Normally the number of casualties will be more and that of survivors less in the incidents of buildings collapsing. But in case of the multi-storey under-construction commercial complex in Kumareshwar Nagar of Dharwad that crashed on Tuesday, the situation was totally different.

Here, the number of casualties was less when compared to that of the people rescued alive.

Till Sunday evening, the rescue teams had rescued 54 persons alive and had retrieved 16 dead bodies from the debris. The role of rescue teams including the NDRF, SDRF and fire and emergency services was vital as they had the task of operating with dexterity in bringing out the survivors who were stuck in the debris safely without causing any additional injuries.

The teams’ efforts were lauded by everyone concerned for their expertise, dedication and determination.

Karnataka’s chief fire officer J H Ravishankar, who, along with NDRF commanders Kuldeep Singh and Jahid Khan, is leading the operation from the front since the past six days explained to TOI how the teams went about the operation. He said that the confidence level of the rescue team has not shrunk and same commitment will be shown till the last survivor or the body is pulled out from the debris.

Ravishankar said that the collapse of a cement concrete structure could be of two types: sandwich collapse and void. If it is sandwich collapse, the number of survivors will be less as they get crushed under the concrete slab. If there is a partial collapse, it will be void (sliding) and therefore the survival rate is very high.

“The Dharwad building had both sandwich and void collapse. While it was sandwich collapse of the top floors, the crash of the ground floor, basement 1 and basement 2 was void. Hence, the rescue teams could bring out more people who were trapped in the ground, basement 1 and 2 alive and with minimum injuries”, he said.

“Soon after reaching the accident site, the five-member expert team headed by DGP (fire and emergency services) M N Reddy and DIG Ravikanthe Gowda prepared the topography and designed a plan giving priority to survivors. Accordingly, tunnels were made at three sides of the building to gain entry inside the debris and get access to the survivors. As many as four persons could be brought out alive on the fourth day because they were trapped in the void collapse and had ample space to breath easily”, said Ravishankar.

As per the topography, the experts had found out that several shops in the first and second floor were unoccupied and here heavy machinery was used to reach to the ground floor and basement. Even Victim Location Cameras (VLCs) were used to identify the survivors stuck in the debris. “In this way we got access to Dilip Kokare and Sangeeta who were trapped in the ground floor. Based on the clue that one more woman is crying for help, the rescue team pulled out Honamma almost three hours later after the couple was brought out”.

An all-out effort was made on the fifth day late night to bring out four persons who were suspected to have been trapped inside the debris. Unfortunately, the team could pull out the body of Veeranna Hadapad. Veeranna was trapped in sandwich collapse on the first floor with very less survival chance, said the officer.

Ravishankar said that as many as 288 SDRF, NDRF and fire personnel are involved in this rescue operation which will be completed on Sunday late night.

‘Best rescue team in the country’

Ravishankar said that the SDRF and fire extinguishers in Karnataka are equipped with latest tools and heavy machinery and can match the skills of any team across the world. During last two years, latest machinery including spreaders, rescue vans, cutters and ariel vehicle have been imported from Germany and other countries.

The Fire and Emergency Service Academy in Bengaluru is even sending the personnel abroad to learn new rescue skills and based on their training hours, promotions are given. Order has been placed to purchase a 90mtr ariel vehicle to douse fire in multi-stories buildings. At present, Bengaluru has a 50mtr ariel vehicle and Hubballi has got a 32 mtr ariel vehicle, said Ravishankar.