Which SMC officers allowed illegal fourth floor?

SURAT: During investigation into the Takshashila Arcade fire that claimed 22 lives on May 24, city police took action against the owners, officials of Surat Municipal Corporation and Dakshin Gujarat Vij Company Limited (DGVCL) for criminal negligence.



However, the officers who actually

allowed

construction of the

illegal fourth floor

, sometime between 2015 and 2017 as per the police investigation, are still scot-free.

An entire floor was constructed inside the dome, which

SMC officers

reportedly chose to turn a blind eye to. After the owners paid the impact fees, civic body has been collecting annual property tax,

which

is calculated by measuring and checking the building’s constructed area. Located on the the main Varachha Road and exactly at Sarthana Crossroads, it’s a mystery how the Arcade’s killer fourth floor escaped SMC officials’ notice.

The SMC officers, who have been arrested, have played a role at various levels when the impact fee proposal of the building was approved. The accused owners had owned some portion of a ground plus one storey building named as Bholenath Complex initially. They later added two storeys and a dome on the terrace which was regularized under impact fees in 2013, police informed.

The dome, which was more than 15 foot high from the centre, acted as a shield for the unauthorized floor. The rear of the oval-shaped dome was covered with iron sheets, while the front had sliding windows.

Inside the dome, the unauthorized floor was not as wide as the lower floors with the boundary around two and half feet inside compared to the rest of the building. The floor is believed to have been designed and developed in a manner that it is not very heavy. The owners had built highly inflammable wooden steps, wooden floors and light-weight furniture besides tyres for children to sit.

“The investigation is on and we are probing the role of various persons. We have asked SMC to submit papers related to the building and they are likely to reveal some important details. Those found negligent in their role will be arrested,” said a senior police officer.