Dockyard Road building collapse makes six in six months

1) The collapse of seven- storeyed Lucky Compound on Thane-Mahape Road in Mumbra on April 4, 2013 is the worst building collapse in the area in recent years. More than 70 people had reportedly died while more than 60 people were left with injuries.

dna had first reported that , the building was built in six weeks with sub-standard material. Moreover, homes, offices and shops had been set up within the building without an occupancy certificate. The building collapsed while an eighth floor was been constructed.

Real-estate developers Jamil Qureshi and Salim Sheikh were arrested and booked for culpable homicide not amounting to murder. They had gone missing when the building came down crashing like a pack of cards, trapping people under the debris. Eight arrests have been made since which includes several Thane Municipal Corporation (TMC) officers who were allegedly bribed to not act against the builders.

2) Altaf Manzil, located in suburban Mahim, collapsed on June 10, 2013 after the city saw non-stop rains for two days. The Santacruz weather station had recorded its highest rainfall in the last ten years for the month of June. The collapse resulted in the death of 10 people and injured six others.

Three out of the ten dead were minors and locals had blamed it on structural changes made to a furniture showroom on the ground floor of the four-storey building. A case was registered against the owners of the building and the car showroom while three other Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) officers were suspended. The residents of the building claimed that alterations were not only done to the ground floor but also to the basement of the building which was occupied by the car showroom for parking their cars.

3) Just within a few days since the horrific collapse of buildings in Thane and Mahim, another incident of a building collapse was reported in Dahisar on June 22, 2013 which resulted in the death of seven and left six others injured.

Piyush Co-operative Housing Society located in market area of on Yashwant Tawde Marg near Dahisar station in east, was declared as most dangerous C - 3 category building by the BMC, after a portion of the building had collapsed, and had evicted and sealed the building on February 16, 2010. BMC also had served notice under section 354 of Monopolies and Restrictive Trade Practises Commission (MRTP) Act, however, local vegetable vendors used to take shelter in the structure sometimes.

The building, constructed during 1980’s has been originally a residential, but was later used for commercial purpose by diamond cutting and polishing workshops and big units. These units housed heavy machinery and hundreds of people increasing the load on the building which might be the reason behind the sudden collapse of the building.

Two members of management of Piyush Co-operative Housing Society -- the secretary and the former chairman -- were arrested in connection with the collapse of the building; however, they were released on bail the same day.

4) Within a fortnight of the collapse of Piyush Co-operative Housing Society, a garments factory, located in Arihant Compound in Kalher village near the power loom town of Bhiwandi collapsed. The incident took place on July 4, 2013 and killed six and left 24 injured. This is the third major building crash in the district in the past couple of months.

A third floor was being added to the old structure, even when people working the graveyard shift were present in the building. The Narpoli police registered an offence under section 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) of IPC against six persons including the owners, the architect and builder in connection with the building crash.

5) Mumbra is slowly earning its name for illegal buildings and their collapses. This is the second building collapse in Mumbra in three months.

A six storey building, Banu Complex at Jeevanbaugh, Mumbra collapsed on September 21, 2013 killing ten of its residents. However, the 150 residents of the building vacated the premises an hour before the incident after realising that the building was shaking. The Mumbra police registered a case against the two builders and two landlords.

6) The most recent building collapse took place near Dockyard Road railway station on September 27,2013 which has so far killed 53. The rescue operations have been on for more than 35 hours now and more than 20 people are still believed to be trapped under the building.

Ironically, it was a five-storeyed Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) residential building which collapsed on Friday morning. Moreover, the building was used to monitor weak buildings in the city.