Pune Moshi garbage depot toll rises to 9 as 83-hour rescue operation ends

THe 83-hour look and deliver performance at Pune’s Moshi scraps depot ended betimes Sunday after rescuers recovered the body of the last missing employee, taking the death toll in the garbage mound collapse to nine, officials said.The deceased employee was identified as Waman Kasbe. His body was recovered around 1 am on Sunday and taken to Yashwantrao Chavan Memorial Hospital (YCMH) in Pimpri.The ground-plus-two-storey building housing the administrative offices of a waste-to-energy plant at Moshi collapsed on Wednesday afternoon after a massive mound of legacy waste began sliding onto the structure at around 1.30 pm. The Moshi facility is a waste-to-energy (WTE) plant operated by a private firm under an agreement with the Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC).Most employees were having lunch in the first-floor canteen when the mound gave way. Five employees escaped as the building began to collapse. Of the 23 people trapped in the incident, 14 were rescued alive while nine lost their lives.Also Read: One dead, eight still feared trapped in Moshi building collapse“The search operation has been completed after the last missing employee was found. The operation continued for nearly 83 hours under extremely difficult and hazardous conditions. All those reported trapped in the incident have now been accounted for,” a senior PCMC official said.The rescue operation involved personnel from the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), the Indian Army, the Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC), the PMRDA fire brigade, the police, and other disaster management agencies.Rescue efforts were slowed by the unstable condition of the partially collapsed building and the enormous volume of garbage and debris. Teams first had to stabilise the structure by removing unsafe sections and creating safe access routes before entering the building. Heavy machinery, including JCBs, excavators and an advanced demolition excavator, was deployed to clear the debris.Also Read: Lateral force from saturated garbage may have caused Moshi building collapse: Engineers’ bodyThe tragedy has also raised serious questions about waste management practices at the 81-acre Moshi garbage depot, the stability of the garbage mound, and alleged irregularities in permissions granted for the administrative building.According to PCMC officials, more than 650 mm of rainfall over three consecutive days allowed water to seep into cavities within the garbage mound, increasing pressure from trapped gases, including methane, and triggering the massive slide.The civic administration has termed the incident a natural disaster and said a detailed inquiry will determine responsibility and examine whether the tragedy could have been prevented.