‘Wrote to authorities, but none paid heed’

MUMBAI:LETTERS to Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation’s (BMC) building proposals department, F north ward office, police station, fire brigade, and police commissioner, too, failed to draw their attention to the impact the neighbouring underconstruction site had on their building, residents of Lloyd Estate said on Tuesday.

The compound wall of Lloyd Estate collapsed, taking along at least six cars into the caved-in under-construction site of Dosti Realty on Monday. Nauser Dalal, a resident of Lloyd Estate, said, “In May 2017, tiles and floor of the parking lot of our building began to sink. When we realised this is linked to the construction next door, we wrote five letters to all parties. We also sent reminder letters, but no action was taken.”

Keshav Ubale, assistant commissioner of F North ward, under whose jurisdiction the area falls, said, “This matter does not come under the purview of the ward office. Residents wrote letters to the building proposals department. Before the department could look into it, the matter had reached court.”

Residents now want a scientific solution to the problem. GB Yadav, resident and committee member of the housing society, said, “Dosti builders should repair the damaged part scientifically. There is fear among residents after Monday’s incident.”

Another resident Simran Parmar said, “It is a matter of safety of 5,000 residents of the building. Even though the structural auditor said the building is safe, we are unsure, as the construction will continue after a while.”

While court-appointed commissioner Shantilal Jain,directed the builder to backfill the caved portion with concrete and rubble, residents allege the developer is using leftover construction debris, broken tiles, rusted iron rods, broken bricks and loose soil.

The residents alleged the builder had last year promised to fix the floor of their parking lot that sank owing to his work. They want him to complete the work now. A spokesperson of Dosti Realty said: “We are carrying out remedial measures as suggested by the court commissioner and accordingly the work of backfilling and concretisation at the caved in portion is going on under the supervision of our consultants and engineers…”