One person died and another was injured when the roof of a house collapsed on them in Kurla on Wednesday. The roof gave way under the weight of the garbage accumulated on it.
The incident occurred around 10.30 a.m. in Pathan Chawl, Kurla (East). A portion of a ground-plus-one storey house collapsed, injuring two people. The two, identified as Abdul Rashid Qureshi (48) and Rahemadi (65), were rushed to Sion Hospital by bystanders where Mr. Qureshi was declared brought dead. The woman, who is his mother, has suffered minor injuries.
Mohammed Iqbal, Abdul’s neighbour, said, “I heard a loud noise and came rushing out to find Rahemadi screaming for help. We had to dig our way into the house as there was a large heap of garbage blocking the path.” The house, which is located on a steep slope, is part of a vertical chawl in Qureshi Nagar. According to Mr. Iqbal, this was the third such incident in five years in Pathan Chawl.
The ambulance and the fire brigade were not able to reach the spot because of the narrow lanes. “We had to take them to the hospital in an autorickshaw,” Mr. Iqbal said.
Another resident Mohammed Tariq also helped pull out the victims. “Abdul had been talking of leaving his house for a while now, but because of his financial condition, he had to stay on. The house was in a terrible condition as the termite-infested wood could not sustain the weight of the garbage dumped on it.”
The residents of the chawl have been appealing to the BMC every year to remove the trash but have received no response. “The condition of our roof keeps worsening,” said Faiz Khan, another resident of Pathan Chawl. “But we only receive a letter from the BMC stating it will look into the garbage issue,” he said.
Manish Walunj, assistant municipal commissioner, L Ward, said since the houses are located very close to the hilly area, there is no access to remove the garbage.
“Residents keep throwing the trash out of their windows. We’re trying to control the situation, and will soon be looking into relocating some of the residents,” he said.
While the cause of the death was unknown at the time of going to press, Pradnya Bunde, police inspector, Chunabhatti police station, told The Hindu that they are trying to contact any other family members of the victim. The deceased, who used to own a pushcart, is survived by his mother.
Dr. Rajesh Dere from Sion Hospital’s forensic department said the deceased had a head injury. “There were no signs of suffocation or any other injuries,” he said.