A portion of a two-storey building in Nagpada collapsed on Thursday. (Photo by Ganesh Shirsekar)Four persons were killed and three others injured on Thursday in four incidents, including one in which portion of a building caved in and another in which a makeshift lift at a construction site collapsed.
In the first incident, two persons, including a 12-year-old girl, were killed after part of a two-storey cessed building, being demolished, collapsed on their house at Nagpada. The victims were 12-year-old Arisha Qureshi and her grandmother Noor Qureshi. The toilet block of adjacent Mishra Mansion, located at Shukla Street, collapsed on their house around 12.30 pm. The developer was partly demolishing the structure. The girl’s mother survived as she had stepped out of the house. Another woman, Fahimida Banu Akbar Ali (35), was injured and shifted to JJ Hospital.
MHADA officials said Mishra Mansion is a cessed property and in 2017 NOC was granted to Sirsiwala Developers for redevelopment. On Thursday, the developer started demolishing the toilet block. “I saw a huge portion of the toilet come down. I immediately alerted my family and got them out as part of the rubble fell on my house,” said Jameel Qureshi (22).
“Even after fire brigade and rescue team reached the spot, they couldn’t do much as there was no space to use the machines to remove debris. Debris was removed manually,” said Owais Musani, of adjacent Bacchubahi Batliwala Compound.
Tenants of Mishra Mansion blamed the developer and MHADA, saying adequate safety measures were not taken. “The building is in a dilapidated condition. Demolition was undertaken without vacating people from the building or adjoining structures,” alleged Zainul Qureshi.
Housing Minister Jitendra Ahwad, who visited the site, said, “Tomorrow a meeting will be held and immediate transit homes will be provided to people of the apartment. Strict action will be taken against the guilty.”
Mumbai Mayor Kishori Pednekar too visited the site. “I have asked MHADA to take action against the builder and cancel the NOC,” Pednekar said.
NOC was given to the developer in 2017 for two buildings — Mishra Mansion and Abdul Rahman building. “But after waiting for years, in October 2019 a notice was issued against the developer. But it didn’t start work, now we are going to take strict action,” said Arun Dongre, Chief Officer, MHADA repair board. Dongre added that there were 111 tenants in both apartments and talks were on to shift them to transit camps.
MHADA has 14,704 buildings in South Mumbai which are 90 to 100 years old. About 53,000 people live in them.
In another incident at Kannamwar Nagar in Vikhroli, two persons died after a makeshift lift collapsed at an under-construction highrise. The incident took place around 4 pm. The deceased were identified as E Tiwari Yadav (35) and Bholaram Yadav (36). Both were declared brought dead at 4.25 pm, informed Dr Viraj, chief medical officer, Rajawadi hospital.
The reason behind the collapse is yet to be ascertained. According to police, prima facie investigation has revealed negligence on the part of builder and contractor.
Separately, a 54-year-old woman was injured after part of a balcony wall collapsed in Chembur east. According to the Disaster Management Cell, the incident happened around 10.30 am at Mahatma Phule Nagar at R C Marg. The woman, trapped under debris, was rescued by locals and shifted to Rajawadi hospital in Ghatkopar. BMC officials said Tulsabai Ambhore received severe head and chest injury. Her condition is stable. Local BJP corporator Asha Marathe said the woman was washing clothes when part of the balcony collapsed.
In another incident at Deonar, a woman sustained minor injuries in a house collapse incident.