Mumbai: Kitchen staff injured after concrete slab collapses at KEM nursing quarters

The place where the concrete slab fell on the cook at KEM Nurses Quarters and School of Nursing in Parel; plaster fallen off the roof

A 40-year-old woman suffered grievous head injuries after a concrete slab fell from the roof at the KEM Nurses Quarters and School of Nursing in Parel on Thursday. This is not a one-off mishap at the 3-storey building as every corner of the structure has turned precarious for want of repairs. The nursing students said they constantly live in fear and that authorities have done nothing to ensure their safety.

Sangeeta Chavan, who works as a cook, got a deep gash on her head. The nursing students are attached to the King Edward Memorial Hospital and Seth Gordhandas Sunderdas Medical College which are among Mumbai's prestigious institutions. Their nursing school and hostel building is about 96 years old.

mid-day visited the premises on Thursday with the help of former corporator Anil Kokil. The nutritional lab is so rickety that it is closed. Students are forced to do their academic work in the kitchen. The bathroom walls have turned green due to leakage. Chunks of plaster have come off at several places exposing the rusted iron rods.

While cracks can be seen almost everywhere, iron scaffoldings have been put up to prevent beams from collapsing. The condition of this Parel hostel is worse than that of the JJ hospital resident doctors' hostel at Byculla that mid-day had earlier exposed. It had prompted the state human rights commission to heavily censure the authorities.

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"Concrete chunks are falling every now and then. A few months ago, a ceiling fan came crashing down along with a huge piece of mortar slab. Luckily, no one was injured. If anything happens to the students or staff who will be responsible," asked a nursing student requesting anonymity.

Ex-corporator Kokil, who also went around the building with the hospital's acting dean Harish Pathak, told mid-day, "For the past one and half years, I've been following up on this issue with the BMC's civil department. They inspected the place but no steps were taken to resolve the issue. After today's incident, now they are saying that they will float a tender for the repairs. My question is what are they waiting for? Are they waiting for someone to die? I have already written to dean Dr Sangeeta Rawat and if no steps are taken then I will ask the additional municipal commissioner to visit the hostel."

Sources said after a structural audit in 2018, the building was declared C2 category - it needs major repairs. While yearly structural audits are a must for buildings older than 30 years, it has not been done for the nursing school and hostel since then. Dr Rawat, the dean, said, "I'm out of the station, contact Dr Harish Pathak, acting dean."

Additional Municipal Commissioner Dr Sanjeev Kumar told mid-day, "Immediate steps will be taken for the repair work and we will also conduct a structural audit." About no structural audit since 2018, he said, "An inquiry will be conducted and we will take action against the responsible person."