A four-floored building in Mumbai has collapsed today morning and has trapped around 40 to 50 people inside it and now it has been confirmed that 13 are dead. Sources say that the collapsed building is Kesarbai Building that is in Tandel Street in Dongiri Area, Mumbai. The incident happened at 11.40 a.m. today. 5 people have been rescued an sent to hospitals.
The cause of the collapse is assumed to be the age of the building. National Disaster Response Force Team has rushed to the collapsed site and are trying their best to save the trapped people. It is said that approximately 15 families are caught in the debris and since the lanes are narrow and the building is in a dilapidated manner, the NDRF team is assessing possible solution as we speak. Ambulance are also finding it hard because of the congested area that is around the site.
The building is extremely old and in fact all the buildings in the Dongiri area are old. Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority is blamed for not taking proper measures to maintain the quality of the building. It is a challenge for the fire brigade and Ambulance to rescue the trapped.
It must be noted that this is not the first time that such an incident has happened in Dongiri Area. In Aug, 2014, a century old 5 storeyed building collapsed and all the 150 residents had a fatal experience.
Later in the noon, Times Now reported that it has obtained a 2017 notice by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) which asked the residents to leave the building. Times Now mentioned that BMC has only cautioned and has not taken any steps to keep the people safe. The accessed notice says that the owners of the Kesarbai Building (that has now collapsed) had already asked the people to leave the building for the sake of renovating the building. But since one of the inhabitant in a floor did not agree to leave, the entire idea of renovation was not made and the notice states that the owners are not responsible for any loss whatsoever.
Putting the blame on the people is actually adding insult to the injured. A slew of measures could be taken by the owners as the law says that in times of bad weather, the dilapidated buildings should be noted down, the residents should be asked to vacate. If they fail, the owners could consider the help from cops to safely make them vacate. No such act was done by the owners and the civic bodies are only blaming the public.
On 17.7.2019, the CM of Maharastra announced Rs. 5 lakhs as solatium to the family members of the deceased.