Two killed, three injured as parts of three structures collapse in Mumbai

Two people were killed and one injured after part of a cessed ground-plus-two structure collapsed in Nagpada of Byculla on Thursday afternoon. In two separate incidents, two people were injured in a balcony and house collapse in Chembur and Deonar.

In Nagpada, around 1pm, a part of the toilet of Mishra building, collapsed and three persons got trapped. All three were residents of nearby structures and did not live in Mishra building. Of the three, two – Aliya Qureshi, 12, and Noor Qureshi, 70, – were declared dead at Sir JJ Hospital, while 35-year-old Saumita Banoo escaped with injuries. Mishra building is over 50 years old.

Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (Mhada) officials said they had issued a no-objection certificate (NOC) to the developer in 2017 for redevelopment of the structure, but he failed to start the redevelopment work. “We repeatedly issued notices to the developer for failing to initiate redevelopment. We will verify the reason for the delay and take action,” said Arun Borse, from the engineering department of Mhada.

Mumbai mayor Kishori Pednekar, who visited the site, said, “Mhada and all other authorities have regularly issued notices to the developer, who is also the landlord of the structure. But he managed to get a stay from the court several times, due to which the whole process was delayed.”

Prashant Gaikwad, assistant municipal commissioner, of BMC’s D ward, under which the building falls, said, “It was a Mhada structure, and BMC has no role to play here. However, the building has been vacated. We are told some repair work was done in the building on Thursday morning, but we do not have any information.”

Local Congress corporator Javed Juneja said, “The situation is the same everywhere. We always end up with deaths or injured residents in south Mumbai during the monsoon. The state government needs to have a holistic plan to protect those living in dilapidated or cessed structures. The residents have approached the Mumbai Police to take action against the builder.”

Further, a part of a balcony wall collapsed in Chembur East around 11.42am. One person was injured in the incident and admitted to Rajawadi Hospital. The injured is admitted to the ICU in critical condition, BMC’s disaster management cell said in a statement.

The statement added a ground-plus-one structure collapsed opposite Deonar police station collapsed. The incident was reported around 2.42pm. A woman suffered minor injuries and has been admitted to Shatabdi Hospital.