Very serious: Bombay HC takes suo moto cognisance of Bhiwandi building collapse

MUMBAI: 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 Datta remarked that the incident in Bhiwandi, in which around 40 people 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 lives have been lost. We are told the situation is quite serious in Mumbai 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 high court said while taking suo moto (on its own) cognisance of the 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 unauthorised construction and tenants occupying dilapidated structures despite evacuation notices in Mumbai and neighbouring areas.