One person was killed and five injured when a portion of the ceiling of a building on Kalbadevi Road collapsed on Tuesday afternoon.
MUMBAI: One person was killed and five injured when a portion of the ceiling of a building on Kalbadevi Road collapsed on Tuesday afternoon.
It was lunch time when Rameshwaridevi Maheshwari, who lives on the fifth floor of the building felt the building shake. Maheshwari and other residents were told to vacate the 80-year-old building immediately even as police and fire engines arrived on the scene in 10 minutes.
Three employees of a textile firm working on the floors below have been admitted to GT Hospital with minor injuries.
“The slab fell directly on my head. The building was old, and there was always a danger of this happening,” said Dilash Gound, one of the injured workers. “I wonder what will happen to the building during the monsoons.”
This is one of the many dilapidated buildings in the C ward in need of urgent repairs.
“Our two godowns have been destroyed; we have suffered a loss of at least Rs35 lakh,” said Anuj Singh, who works for JS Traders on the first floor. Other traders in this largely commercial building have been asked not to stay in the building for at least a week.
“Every building in this area is in an extremely bad shape,” said Mahesh Jhunjhunwala, a resident of a neighbouring building.
“We have asked only office people and employees to move out because they are staying on the danger side - where the slab fell. The other side, where the residents live, is safer,” said Shirish Sawalkar, deputy engineer, MHADA.
He said the main cause for the collapse was that the building was extremely old and could not support the kind of load it was being put under.
“There have been godowns built here loaded with cloth material as well as machines humming constantly. This weakens the building’s foundation,” he said.
Lurking danger
1:30pm Ceiling of the five storeyed building collapses
Within 10 min, fire brigade reached the spot
Number of tenants 59
Number of residents 10
Number of commercial establishments 49
Number of people injured: 3
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