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Nine builders arrested in Ahmedabad

''We have arrested nine builders so far on the basis of complaints filed by the residents and the number might go up in the coming days,'' city police commissioner P C Pande said.

He said the builders had been booked under Section 304 of the Indian Penal Code (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) and Section 420 (cheating). The first of these sections carries a sentence of ten years' imprisonment.

''As of now, we have made arrests only where more than one building of a builder collapsed in the quake or the structures were built recently, besides those where alterations had been made. One cannot blame the builder if a thirty-year-old building collapses,'' Pande said.

Pande said in each case everybody responsible for the construction of a building - the contractor, structural engineers - besides the builder would be booked.

Asked whether a separate cell was being created to follow up such cases, he said, ''We have not taken any decision as of now.''

Around 3,500 houses were damaged in the city following the quake. More than 75,000 government flats, built by the Gujarat Housing Board, bore the jolts of the quake.

None of its more than 1100 structures were destroyed in the worst-affected Bhuj, located near the epicentre. However, 48 GHB-built houses in Morvi and 12 in Rajkot were destroyed.

Most of the private builders in the city have gone underground fearing action by the authorities and wrath of the victims.

One of the city's known builders Anil Bakeri, who is also a civil engineer, on Friday called for stern action against the builders for unplanned construction.

Incidentally, none of the ten high-rise structures built by his company in the city over the past 40 years collapsed, but only developed minor cracks. ''My constructions conform to the ISI codes,'' he said.

Whem the quake led to cracks in his ten buildings, seven of which are commercial complexes, Bakeri refused to bring in his own structural engineers to instil confidence among the occupants asking them instead to get their own.

''No one would have believed my engineers,'' he said. Later, the constructions were certified as safe by some renowned firms.

Bakeri said in any cityscape, high-rise structures are not justifiable in the social infrastructure.

''Multi-storey apartments should remain confined to the business centre in the core downtown area like those abroad,'' he said. ''But builders have taken high-rise structures to the periphery chasing profits, throwing caution to the winds, endangering public safety. Ideally, the skyscraper should taper down from the core city area to the periphery,'' he added.

He said high-rise structures in residential areas are only 'energy guzzlers' in terms of investments and maintenance of basic essentials like water, lifts etc.

He said the collapse of a multi-storey building could be attributed to inadequate use of steel, cement and vibrators, besides negligence and corrupt practices.

UNI

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