Nitish Kumar announces ex gratia for Pune wall collapse victims

Nitish Kumar

Chief Minister Nitish Kumar Saturday expressed grief over the death of 15 people from Bihar in the Pune wall collapse incident and announced ex-gratia of Rs 2 lakh to the families of each of the deceased.

All the 15 people who perished in the early hours of Saturday in Maharashtra's Pune when a housing society wall collapsed on their shanties after incessant rains were from Katihar district of Bihar, officials said.

A statement issued by the Chief Minister's Office in Patna said Kumar has expressed "deep sorrow over the wall collapse at Kondhwa in Pune and condoled the death of 15 people from Katihar district in Bihar".

Katihar District Magistrate Poonam said the deceased have been identified. All of them were residents of Barsoi sub-division of the district, 14 from Balrampur block and one from Kadwa, she said.

She also added that arrangements are being made to expeditiously bring the bodies by an air ambulance and prompt payments of ex-gratia would be ensured.
The shanties were set up for labourers working on a nearby construction site.

The deceased have been identified as Alok Sharma (28), Mohan Sharma (24), Aman Sharma (19), Ravi sharma (19), Laxmikant Sahani (33), Sunil Singh (35), Ovi Das (2), Sonali Das (6), Bhima Das (38), Sangita Devi (26), Ajit Kumar Sharma (7), Rekhal Kumar Sharma (5), Niva Devi (30), Dipranjan Sharma and Avdesh Singh.

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