Matrukrupa building, which has 25 flats, had been declared dilapidated by the Kalyan Dombivli Municipal Corporation (KDMC), but residents continued to stay. Shockingly, civic officials did not take measures to evacuate them.
A three-storey building in Thakurli, Thane, collapsed on Tuesday around 10.15pm, claiming nine and injuring 10 residents.
Matrukrupa building, which has 25 flats, had been declared dilapidated by the Kalyan Dombivli Municipal Corporation (KDMC), but residents continued to stay. Shockingly, civic officials did not take measures to evacuate them.
Since the building is surrounded by other structures and its main gate is a narrow lane between two buildings, there was a delay in rescue operations. Locals and police had to break the boundary wall of another building to get access. Three ambulances and fire brigade rushed to the spot to rescue the residents.
Later, a 50-member team of specialist National Disaster Response Force also assisted in the rescue operation which went on throughout night. Heavy rains also delayed the operation.
The deceased have been identified as TV Ishwaran (67), Usha Kushan (49), Pratik Jhanjharika (11), Usha Sundaram, Venu Francis (11), Francis Nadar (44), Sushila Reddy (78), Rohit Giri (18) and Jamnaprasad Sharma (75).
Amongst those who were trapped inside, include 10-year-old Pratik Jhanjharika, his sister (Hital) and mother (Sushila). The mother and daughter were trapped between a fridge and cupboard but managed to call her husband from their mobile and inform about their exact location.
This helped the rescue team in pulling them out safely, but repeated attempts to rescue Pratik failed and on Wednesday morning his body was found in under the debris. Venu Francis and Francis Nadar were the last ones to be pulled out of the debris, but they could not be saved.
KDMC's lackadaisical attitude
This building is situated at Cholegaon and tenants were staying on Pagdi system. The structure was built in 1972, under the jurisdiction of KDMC. There are another 686 buildings in the jurisdiction that have been declared dilapidated. Last week, a building in Dombivli collapsed, but there were no causalities. The lackadaisical attitude of KDMC in vacating residents of dilapidated structures is evident. Mayor Kalyani Patil said, "The building was old and we had issued warnings, but residents did not budge."
Authorities speak
Suresh Pawar, DCP and chief controller for unauthorised construction, KDMC, said, "Since the last five years, we have been sending notices to this building, but neither the owner nor tenants showed any signs to vacate. We first send notices and if they do not budge then take help from the police to forcefully vacate them. Later, residents asked us to provide an alternate accommodation but we are not capable of doing that and so they continue to stay in the dilapidated building. The government should provide alternative measures so that we can vacate residents."
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