Grieving father blames housing authority

Salim Mirza, 54, has yet to come to terms with the death of his entire family in the Sadaf Manzil building crash on August 23.

His heart particularly goes out to his 17-year-old daughter Rohina, on whom he had placed so much hope. He looks like a man enduring his tragedy with stoic forbearance but actually is bitter and angry with the engineers of the Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (MHADA) who gave a "clean chit" to a building that was not stable.

"This should not have happened to a girl like Rohina who was so bright, intelligent and full of life," he says, shaking his head.

"She had scored 82 per cent in the 10th standard and was keen on taking up science and then medicine. Since I could not afford the high expenses of sending her to a medical college, I advised her to take up commerce," Mirza, who works as a driver with a private company, told Gulf News.

Rohina was studying in the 12th standard in H.R. College of Commerce in Churchgate and had completed her schooling from the well-known Anjuman Islam School in Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus.

Her name came among the merit list of students in her school, he says proudly and adds, "My daughter was also well-versed with religious recitations." Pausing, he sighs and says, "I had so much ambition and hope for her."

He clutches on to his daughter's photo that was retrieved from the rubble of the four-storey building. Mirza also lost his wife Farida, 40, son Arbaaz, 13, and sister Suraiya, 46.

He says he is constantly reliving the horror of coming down first to check the commotion outside and then seeing his flat collapse before him.

Engineers from MHADA checked the Sadaf Manzil some four to five months back, and just three days ago issued a letter certifying that the building was safe. Yet, it came down.

Left alone, he has no intention of rotting in MHADA's transit camps nor waiting for this government-run agency to build a new structure.

His close friend Sajjad Shaikh has rallied around him and others living next to the building to get a private developer to construct a multi-storey structure for the affected.