The Bombay High Court on Thursday took suo moto cognisance of the building collapse in Bhiwandi town of Maharashtra’s Thane district and described it as a "very serious” incident.
A bench led by Chief Justice Dipankar Datta made the state of Maharashtra, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation, and civic bodies of Bhiwandi-Nizampur, Kalyan-Dombivali, Thane and Navi Mumbai as respondents in the case.
The court was hearing another unrelated case of construction in Kalyan-Dombivali when Chief Justice Dattaremarked that the incident in Bhiwandi, in which around 40people were killed, was a "very serious” one.
The three-storey building in Bhiwandi powerloom town, located on the outskirts of Mumbai, crashed on Monday.
"A building has collapsed in Bhiwandi, several liveshave been lost. We are told the situation is quite serious inMumbai too,” Chief Justice Datta said.
"We are making the state and all municipal corporations parties and issuing notices,” he said while directing Advocate General Ashutosh Kumbhakoni to ensure the state and the civic bodies filed their replies to the notices.
The replies have to be filed in two weeks, the highcourt said while taking suo moto (on its own) cognisance ofthe incident.
Kumbhakoni said, "We will file our replies detailing what has been done so far across the state for such buildings and measures taken, as well as the steps we propose to take in future.”
There have been cases of rampant unauthorisedconstruction and tenants occupying dilapidated structuresdespite evacuation notices in Mumbai and neighbouring areas.