Kanpur: A 65-year-old farmer, Shravan Singh Chandel, and a buffalo calf were killed after the roof of a veranda in a dilapidated 70-year-old house collapsed in Kathara village under the Bidhnu police station area on Friday morning.Chandel, a resident of Kathara village, was sleeping under the veranda at the front of his house when the veranda roof, built with bricks and lime, collapsed at around 5 in the morning. A buffalo calf tied nearby was also buried under the debris. His son Nitul, daughter-in-law Madhu and wife Munni Devi were sleeping in the rear rooms of the house.Hearing the collapse, family members ran outside screaming. Villagers and family members removed the debris by hand and, after nearly half an hour, pulled Chandel out, but he had already stopped breathing. The livestock also died on the spot after being crushed under the heavy debris.The area’s lekhpal reached the spot after receiving information, inspected the site and assured that a report assessing the damage would be sent to senior officials so that the family could receive assistance from the disaster relief fund.The family refused to allow any police proceedings or post-mortem. Bidhnu police station in-charge Tej Bahadur Singh stated that the police have not yet received any written complaint or report in this matter.
