Mumbai: In yet another building collapse in Thane township, at least 12 people were killed and over nine injured when a three-storey building crashed in the early hours of Tuesday.
The 50-year-old building, Krishna Nivas, in the “B” Cabin area of Naupada in Thane, was in a dilapidated condition and had been declared dangerous by the Thane Municipal Corporation.
Some of the residents had vacated the building while others continued to live there. Five families were still living in some of the 16 flats in the building, constructed in 1965.
Rescuers from the Fire Brigade and National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) worked quickly and rescued five people from the debris whilst more were feared trapped.
Thane Municipal Corporation’s Regional Disaster Management official Santosh Kadam said the building came crashing down at 2.30am and rescue teams were rushed to the spot. A security guard at the building said it collapsed in a few seconds. Among the dead were seven women. Most of the victims who belonged to the Bhat and Sawant families.
The deceased include Subhrav Pandurang, 54, Mira Bhatt, 58, Rashmi Bhatt, 25, Arun Sawant, 62, Priya Patel, 14, Bhakti Sawant, 32, Aanaya Khot, 7, Ramchandra Bhatt, 65, Manda Nene, 70, Rashmi Mange, 25, and Amit Sawant, 40.
Thane’s Guardian Minister Eknath Shinde, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Jeetendra Awhad, District Collector Dr Ashwini Joshi and officials visited the site.
“The government will undertake a survey of dilapidated buildings in the area,” Shinde said.
Only a week ago, nine people died in a building, Matru Chhaya, that collapsed during heavy showers in Thane’s Thakurli area, making it two building crashes during this monsoon season.
The Kalyan-Dombivili Municipal Corporation had said that notices were sent to the building residents but they ignored the orders. Awhad expressed concern over the collapse of the two buildings and demanded a scientific probe into how the building could just collapse without any warning.
In Mumbai and Thane, thousands of residents continue to occupy old and dilapidated buildings since rebuilding or rehabilitating the old structure would involve a budget beyond their means.
Developers have come into the picture to rebuild such structures and also create a portion of flats for themselves that can be sold to make a profit. But sadly, there are many cases of developers who have duped such tenants/owners of flats and even sold off flats without constructing the building, leaving many in a quandary.