Navi Mumbai building collapse: Provide all necessary aid to victims, CM tells civic chief

NDRF personnel are trying to remove a body from the debris after a building collapsed in Belapur, Navi Mumbai, on Saturday, July 27. Pic/Sumit Renose

Chief Minister (CM) Eknath Shinde spoke to Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC) chief about the Belapur building collapse over phone from Delhi, where he is attending the NITI Aayog meeting.

All the necessary facilities such as urgent treatment, health facilities, food, water, clothes, and temporary shelter should be made available to all the disaster victims immediately, CM Shinde directed NMMC chief Kailas Shinde.

On Saturday around 4.30am, a three-storey building collapsed in Shahabaz Village in Belapur's Sector 19. Two people have died while two others have been rescued from the debris in the incident.

Officials told media that they had received a distress call around 4.50 am informing them about the collapse. The administration immediately started the rescue work after receiving the information.

"This building collapsed before 5am today. It is a G+3 building in Sector-19, Shahbaz village. Fifty-two people were evacuated while two people who were trapped under the debris have also been taken out. There are chances of two more people being trapped inside. An NDRF (National Disaster Response Force) team is conducting the rescue operations. Once we gather all the details. action will be taken against the those responsible," Shinde said, speaking to the media.

The rescued persons have been identified as Lal Mohammad, aged 22, and Ruksana, 21, while the victim's name is said to be Mohammed Miraj Shaikh.

Zoya Deshmukh, one of the residents of the building, said she received a call from her neighbour who informed her that a column of the structure had developed cracks and that the building was showing signs of collapse.

"I informed all the other neighbours on phone about it. We cleared the building promptly without even trying to get our belongings. Within 25 minutes, the building collapsed," she said.

When asked whether they saw the signs that the building would collapse, she said they did not anticipate it happening. "Had our neighbour not alerted us, all the residents would have died," Deshmukh added.