Dead body of an infant being carried out from the rubbles at the collapse site. (Express photo by Nirmal Harindran)
When a six-storey building in Bhendi Bazaar collapsed, the common wall it shared with an adjacent four-storey building on Pakmodia Street had also crashed. On Saturday, the walls and sheds of the adjacent Jumani building were broken down as part of a demolition exercise, which is expected to take a couple of days more.
“The work will take a couple more days. So far, the walls and sheds of the top floor have been broken down,” said an official from the Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (MHADA), adding that the demolition was being carried out by the Saifee Burhani Upliftment Trust (SBUT).
A contractor was appointed on Friday to carry out the demolition and the work began late Friday. Residents of nearby buildings, including the Dambarwala building where gangster Dawood Ibrahim spent most of his early life, have been evacuated.
“At this point, families have been asked to move out. They will be accommodated in transit camps,” said a spokesperson of SBUT, which is in charge of the cluster development of Bhendi Bazaar.
On Thursday, as the 117-year-old Husaini building came crashing down, the wall it shared with Jumani Building, too, fell.
“The Jumani building, like many buildings in this area, is as dilapidated as the Husaini building. It is not safe for living,” said the MHADA official. The official added that the SBUT had been assigned the task of evacuating people from dilapidated buildings in the area and accommodating them in transit camps.
