In a tragic incident in Pune district, police have initiated legal proceedings against two officials from a private energy firm following the collapse of a three-storey building at a waste-to-energy project. This disaster, which occurred on July 8, 2026, resulted in the death of nine individuals.
The officials booked include Ashok Gupta, the project head of Antony Lara Renewable Energy Pvt. Ltd., and Vijay Sapkal, the plant’s safety officer. They face charges under sections 105 and 125 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, which relate to culpable homicide not amounting to murder and negligent acts endangering human life, respectively.
The facility, located in Moshi in Pimpri Chinchwad, reportedly had no safety measures in place, despite forecasts of heavy rains that could jeopardize the sanitary landfill at the site. According to the complaint filed by officials from the Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC), the lack of security measures led to a collapse involving a mound of sanitary waste that struck the administrative building.
“As no security measures were adopted, a portion of SLF [mound of legacy waste] collapsed on the three-storey building on July 8, claiming nine lives,” the FIR notes.
The building, which was part of a waste-to-energy plant managed by PCMC, collapsed when the waste mound fell onto it like a landslide, leading to the fatalities.
On July 13, authorities revealed that a preliminary inquiry indicated that an occupancy certificate had only been issued for the ground floor of the building, based on the company’s request. In response to this tragedy, the Maharashtra government has established an independent high-level technical inquiry committee to probe the incident.
PCMC Commissioner Dr. Vijay Suryavanshi pointed out that the company evidently failed to implement safety protocols at the plant, especially given the persistent heavy rainfall. Officials have emphasized the proximity of a massive mound of legacy waste to the collapsed structure.
The Urban Development Department has formed this independent committee, which will conduct a thorough and equitable technical inquiry into the incident and propose measures to avert similar occurrences in the future. Divisional Commissioner Sheetal Teli-Ugale will lead the committee, which includes representatives from the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board and experts from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay.
The assistant commissioner (disaster management) will act as the member secretary. Commissioner Suryavanshi reiterated,
“The government has constituted a completely independent committee to investigate the incident and suggest measures to prevent such incidents in future.”
