Once upon a time, there was an Altaf Mansion

Ten days after a portion of Altaf Mansion in Mahim collapsed and killed 10 people, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) on Friday started the demolition the rest of the building.

The demolition was to start around 12 pm but was delayed after it was revealed that the civic body had not yet sought permission from the traffic police to cordon off Cadell road, which was done only around 3.45 pm. “The demolition is being carried out as per plan. We will demolish the four upper floors, from 2nd to 5th, in the first phase. Then, we will remove the debris and will resume the demolition,” said an official.

The demolition will cost the BMC Rs12.5 lakh.

“We will continue with the demolition through the night and will complete it by Saturday morning. Some of the debris will be dumped at Mahim creek and the remaining in Malad,”said Kishor Kshirsagar, deputy municipal commissioner.
Meanwhile, a 200-litre diesel barrel with two pins of the demolition machine was stolen on Friday morning. “We are shocked. It was required for working the machine. We had informed the police,” said a site supervisor, though Mahim police officials said no complaint on this has been registered with them. “They informed us verbally. So, we insisted them to register a complaint but they did not,” said Avinash Sonawane, senior inspector of Mahim police station.

The mean machine
A High Reach demolition machine with a jaw crusher and combi cutter is being used to demolish the building. The 27 mt machine, the tallest available in India, is worth approximately Rs5 crore and is operated by one person. The machine was imported from South Korea but some of its parts were brought from London and Italy.