BMC to pull down Altaf Mansion today

A special panel appointed by the civic body to investigate the cause of the collapse of Altaf Mansion in Mahim last week, on Thursday conducted an inspection of the site.

A preliminary inquiry undertaken by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) within a couple of days of the crash did not find any unauthorised structural changes that may have caused the building to come down. This was challenged by Rizwan Merchant, a senior lawyer and resident of the building whose mother, wife and son died in the collapse.

The special panel is headed by Shashank Mehandale, a structural engineer, and has two other officials. "We expect that the report will be submitted to us in a day or two, although this would not be the final report," said Mohan Adtani, additional municipal commissioner.

During the inspection on Thursday, the civic team collected samples of the building materials that will be put through a chemical analysis to study the quality of material used for the construction. It is understood that the test results would be submitted to the police to help them in their probe.

A civic official said that the authorities were also looking into the complaint by Rizwan Merchant, submitted to municipal commissioner Sitaram Kunte on Thursday. Merchant met Kunte and submitted a dossier on the matter to the civic chief.

Meanwhile, the BMC said that it would demolish the remainder portion of the building on Friday. Adtani said on Thursday residents were allowed to take out whatever valuables they could from the structure.

The demolition work will take about a day and a half and could affect traffic on the arterial Cadell Road running alongside the site. The civic body will take the help of the traffic cops in this matter and also adopt safety measures required so that adjacent buildings are not affected.