Friday night's torrential downpour in Mumbai causes wall to fall on Mulund shanties; residents say BMC slapped 'vacate order' instead of rehabilitating them
The retaining wall, which had been constructed to protect the shanties situated on the hillock in the event of a landslide, collapsed following Friday’s downpour
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Following Friday night's heavy downpour, a retaining wall collapsed on four shanties in Mulund, killing a teenager and injuring 15 others.
According to locals, the incident took place at around 12.30 am inside a slum pocket at Shankar Tekadi in New Rahul Nagar. Since the slum was situated on a hillock, a retaining wall had been constructed to protect the houses in the event of a landslide. However, due to the heavy rains late on Friday night, water gushed down the hill, causing the wall to collapse, a BMC official said.
Victim Prashant Jadhav
The Jadhav family was the worst affected, as they lost their 16-year-old son Prashant.
Babu Magan Naik, whose house was also damaged in the mishap, said, “The wall collapsed on the back wall of the shanty the Jadhavs lived in, causing a cupboard to fall on Prashant. By the time we managed to get him out, he was already dead.”
The heavy downpour on Friday led to waterlogging at several spots across the city. While regular suspects, Hindmata, Byculla and Milan Subway, saw severe flooding as usual, South Mumbai’s Breach Candy and Marine Drive areas were also affected. Pics/Atul Kamble
The fire brigade arrived at the spot immediately after the incident, and rushed the injured to the hospital. Prashant’s eldest brother Siddharth (17) suffered serious injuries to his head and chest, while his other two brothers Ajay and Vijay, sister Aarti, mother Kusum and father Santosh sustained minor injuries and were discharged after treatment. "Prashant had completed his SSC, and was doing odd jobs to support his family," a relative of the family said. Naik’s home was also partially buried in the debris. "We don’t have any other place to live," he said.
'BMC is unhelpful'
Even as the slumdwellers were coming to terms with the disaster that hit them, BMC authorities pasted a notice at the site on Saturday, asking the residents to vacate the slum immediately.
This has angered the residents, who’ve alleged that the BMC was being uncooperative. Anjana Chandanshive, a resident, said, "People living in the damaged houses should get a temporary place to stay. Instead of helping us, officials are asking us to leave."
Speaking to mid-day, Prashant Sapkale, assistant municipal commissioner of T ward (Mulund), said, "The hilllock where the mishap took place belongs to the forest department. We have asked the forest department to rehabilitate slumdwellers living on this part of hill."
Meanwhile, the BMC shifted six families, who live on the Amar Nagar hillock, which is situated some distance away from the site of the mishap. Families have been provided shelter in a nearby cyclone centre, a BMC official added.
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