2 years on, nothing has changed for Altaf Manzil residents

Two years after the collapse of Altaf Manzil in Mahim, residents of the housing society are yet to come to terms with their loss.

On June 10, 2013, portions of the 35-year-old four-storey building collapsed late in the evening killing 11 persons and injuring several others. One portion (the north side) of the building collapsed around 8.20pm. Continuing rain hampered rescue operations at the site near Mahim durgah on Cadell Road.

The ground plus four-storey Altaf Manzil had 16 flats. It had a Maruti showroom, Fort Point, on the ground floor.

Advocate Rizwan Merchant, a resident of the building, doesn't want to recollect the memories of the fateful night in which he lost his mother, wife and son. However, he said the "less said the better" about the government and the corporation's functioning, which has not changed in the past two years.

Merchant was irked by the fact that the government authorities were silent spectators despite several buildings collapsing year after year, especially during monsoon.

"Nothing has changed. These people (government and BMC) will be celebrating on (building) collapses. They are just interested in filling their coffers," said Merchant.

Since the collapse, all residents have been residing in temporary accommodations and waiting for the redevelopment of the building.

Merchant said that they are in negotiations about the redevelopment.

An offence was registered by the Mahim police station which was later transferred to the crime branch. The police has filed a charge sheet against Sandeep Bafna, the owner of the car showroom and a sub-engineer of the BMC.

The police alleged that alterations were made on the ground floor which caused the building to collapse. Civic body employees are in the dock for certifying the building as safe, despite Merchant making several complaints.
Also, the landlord of the building, Irfan Furniturewala, has been booked. He acquired anticipatory bail from the Bombay high court. Merchant's application seeking cancellation of his anticipatory bail is pending.

Sainath Rajadhyaksha, the municipal engineers' union's general secretary, demanded that structural audits must be taken seriously by societies. "Till a long time old societies did not take initiatives and our engineers were the ones who suffered. But now, it has been made compulsory that buildings that are more than 30 years old will have to go for regular structural audits. So, in case of any eventuality, the onus will be on the building owners," Rajadhyaksha said.

After the Mahim incident, the city witnessed three building collapse incidents at Dahisar, Dockyard Road and Vakola, collectively claiming more than 80 lives.

Brief history
Altaf Manzil was constructed in two parts in 1982 and 1984 by Altaf Furniturewala. The flats were given out on rent and over a period all the tenants, barring two, bought off the houses. The owners continued to have shops on the ground floor from where they ran Altaf Furnishers.

In June 1998, Altaf was shot dead near his Almeida Park house in Bandra. The property has since been jointly owned by 12 members of the Furniturewala family.