2 days before demolition, Bhiwandi building caves in, buries 8

Eight persons were buried and 22 injured when a three-storey dilapidated building collapsed in Bhiwandi, Thane, last morning following a spell of incessant rain overnight.

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Rescue personnel look for survivors in the rubble

The occupants had been warned repeatedly over the last two years of the danger they were in, but most had allegedly refused to move out. The building had been slated for demolition on August 2.

Bhiwandi Nizampur Municipal Corporation officials, the fire brigade, National Disaster Response Force personnel and locals joined forces to rescue occupants of the building from the rubble. But the rescue operation was largely hampered by narrow lanes and heavy rain.

The rescue operations went on for close to eight hours

According to Bhiwandi Tehsildar Vaishali Lambhate, the building caved in around 9.15 am, trapping 30 occupants in the debris. Twenty-two of these were rescued. "We couldn't save eight of them. The rescue operations went on till 5.30 pm, after which a dog squad was deployed to check if their were any more survivors. After all the survivors were taken out, we began removing the debris," said the tehsildar, who was at the spot all through the day with Thane Collector Mahesh Kalyankar.

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Survivors at Indira Gandhi Memorial Hospital in Bhiwandi

Rescue op delayed
Locals said narrow lanes and heavy downpour slowed down the rescue operation. The Bhiwandi fire brigade struggled to even access the site. The building was some 500 m from the main approach road.

Datta Salvi, chief fire officer, Bhiwandi fire brigade, said his personnel did their best despite the limitations. "We reached the spot at 9.45 am and with the help of locals, we started the rescue operation. It was raining heavily and the lanes leading to the spot were narrow, which caused some problems. But we did our best. Later, with the help of the NDRF, 22 people were rescued."

Warnings ignored
The building, owned by one Mehroonisa Kadir Hasan, had allegedly been declared ‘dangerous' for the last two years. Kapil Patil, an MP, who, too, was at the spot, claimed the occupants had been told for the last two years by civic officials to vacate the premises.

"Two notices were issued to them, asking to vacate the building immediately as it had been declared dangerous. But no one heeded the warnings."

He said four days ago, the Shanti Nagar police had even convened a meeting of the tenants, asking them to vacate the building. "They (the occupants) are themselves responsible for the tragedy. I had raised the issue of dilapidated buildings in the area with Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, who had ordered civic officials to disconnect the supply of power and water to such buildings, and offer rehabilitation to those who are rendered homeless."

Lambhate said some 10 tenants had refused to vacate the premises despite the warnings owing to a dispute with the building owner.

Confirming that a meeting of the tenants had been called recently, RD Shinde, senior inspector, Shanti Nagar police station, said, "We asked them to vacate the building and apprised them of the danger they faced. There were around 22 families residing in the building and 12 of them moved out after getting notices."

Despite the stiff resistance, the civic officials had scheduled the building's demolition for August 2. "We were ready to provide police protection to the workers and authorities," said Shinde.

All survivors were admitted to Indira Gandhi Memorial Hospital in Bhiwandi for their injuries.