‘Building came up in just 10-12 days’

Unbelievable it may sound, but if the residents of Taljai Pathar are to be believed, the ill-fated building that collapsed on Monday killing 11 people and injuring several others, was constructed in a short span of just 10 to 12 days. Local residents say the former corporator, Sanjay Nande owns a few more buildings in the area, which he has rented out.

Chaya Swami, who resides opposite the crumbled building, said “We never saw any fault in the building but had seen a corporation notice that was pasted on the building. The building suddenly collapsed within seconds like a pack of cards. The building was built in 10 to 12 days.”

Sachin Warkhede, one of the local youths who contacted the fire brigade and the police, said, “When I saw the building collapse, I rushed to help the trapped people. I contacted a local mitra mandal and took the help of their members to rescue Deepali Deokate. We also pulled out bodies of two men. The Kamble family used to stay in a room owned by us, but they had shifted to this building on September 10, and within 15 days, they lost everything.”

Local resident Swapnil Anerao, who blamed the builder for the incident, said, “The residents had complained to the corporation three times but no action was taken and hence, this incident happened. The building was built in a span of 12 days and the civic officials did not take any action as they were busy with the Ganesh festival.”

Local resident Deepak Mane said, “One of the injured, Somnath Mali told me that he was trying to repair the pillars in the parking area that had cracked due to the weight of the four-storey building. This shows that the building was very weak. The civic body and the former corporator who constructed this building are to be blamed for the deaths.”

Another resident Umesh Khandelwal said, “The civic chief said that they had issued a notice but had not taken any action and were waiting for the Ganesh festival to end. When people were complaining about the poor construction quality, they should have sent officials of the anti-encroachment department to take
action.”