A massive landslide of waste at the Municipal Corporation’s waste-to-energy plant in Moshi, Pune, has led to a precarious rescue operation, with a three-storey administrative building tilted at a 45-degree angle and feared to be on the verge of a secondary ‘pancake collapse.’ The site remains highly unstable, forcing rescuers to adopt a cautious, manual approach to avoid triggering a structural failure. The multi-agency search and rescue operation, which entered its second day on Thursday, is being described as exceptionally challenging due to the risk of structural failure. Commandant of the 5th Battalion NDRF, SB Singh, stated that teams are clearing debris by hand, as using machines could cause the entire structure to collapse, crushing anyone still inside.
Rescuers are working tactically, one person at a time from a safe distance. The focus of the rescue efforts is currently on the building’s canteen area, where five to six people were reportedly present when the mound of waste buried the facility. To date, teams have successfully rescued nine individuals, while four others managed to escape immediately following the collapse.
Between six to seven people are feared trapped beneath the debris. The rescue efforts are further complicated by the volatile environment inside the wreckage, with elevated methane levels and depleting oxygen concentrations creating additional hazards for personnel. Despite deploying advanced life detectors, acoustic sensors, and dog squads, search teams have yet to establish contact with any survivors.
Rescue teams recovered one body and traced another beneath the debris of the collapsed building at the Municipal Corporation’s waste-to-energy plant in Moshi, Pune. The tragedy was triggered by a massive mound of waste collapsing onto the plant’s administrative block following days of relentless heavy rainfall in the region. In a separate development, Mumbai’s water-supplying lakes have seen a dramatic surge in storage levels due to the monsoon.
Sustained rainfall over the past 72 hours has pushed usable water stock from 41.36% on Wednesday to 48.59% by Thursday morning, marking a significant rise of over 31 percentage points since the start of the week. Local authorities and the NDRF have committed to round-the-clock efforts, though officials have cautioned that the fragile state of the collapsed building means the operation will be time-consuming. ‘We hope they are alive. Our full effort is ongoing,’ Commandant Singh added.
