12 killed, 20 under rubble in Mumbai building collapse
FACING THE HEAT Sunil Shitap who was renovating his ground floor nursing home booked for culpable homicide, quizzed by police
A three-month old and a one-and-half year old were among the twelve people who died after a ground plus four-storey structure in Ghatkopar’s Damodar Park came crashing down on Tuesday.
According to ANI, Shiv Sena worker Sunil Shitap who was undertaking renovation and alterations in his nursing home located on the ground floor and partly on the first floor of the structure, has been booked for culpable homicide. He has been detained by Mumbai police for questioning.
The Siddhi Sai building near Shreyas cinema in Ghatkopar (west) collapsed like a pancake, trapping more than 20 people under the rubble at 10.45 am. Eleven others were left injured as the rescue operations continued till late in the evening.
The dead includes four senior citizens. Lalit Thak, who lost his three-month old Renuka, and his family had just shifted to the building three months back, locals said. A one-and-half-year old Krishu Dongre was removed from the rubble late at night. Two firemen were also injured owing to a gas-leakage while they were rescuing a woman.
Locals have alleged that the building, which was 35-yearsold, collapsed owing to structural changes made on the ground floor which was owned by local Shiv Sena leaders Sunil and Swati Shitap.
They said the pillars or beam on the ground floor were damaged and led to collapse of the structure while the civic officials said the cause of the collapse would be ascertained after the investigation.
Municipal commissioner Ajoy Mehta has ordered a probe. A two-member committee has been formed which is expected to submit the report in 15 days. Police said that they are investigating negligence in this case.
Mumbai mayor Vishwanath Mahadeshwar said that Sunil Shitap was not from the party. He said, “Appropriate action must be taken against the culprit, whoever he is.”
BMC said that there were 15 houses, three each on every floor, of which nine were vacant. Sanjay Pawar, from the nearby slums said that he heard a loud crashing sound when he rushed to the spot. Pawar said, “First, we thought it was a tree crash. By the time we reached the spot, the whole building had collapsed.”
Another local from the slum who did odd-jobs at the building said that she the saw the building shake before it came crashing down. Samriddhi Mayekar said,
“I called out to Geeta Ramchandani who lives on the fourth floor when the building started shaking. It collapsed within minutes. I saw slabs falling on her head. Even I got hurt on my leg.”
The building did not feature in the C-1 category of dangerous buildings that BMC had sent notices to before the onset of monsoon. Close to 791 structures were on the list.
The building, locals said, was in a stable condition. Binita Ramchandani, a resident of the building, whose mother was injured in the incident said, “Despite residents objecting to him altering with the building’s pillars, he went ahead with it because of his political clout. He was trying to change it into a guest house.” Pravin Chheda, a local Congress leader said that the onus of compensating must go to Shitap.