The buck clearly stops at BMC’s door

Call it bad luck or what you will, the BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) seems to be going through tough times, taking flak for the death of a television anchor on whose head a tree fell, numerous potholes on the roads and now a building collapse. Is the BMC, the richest civic boy in the country, losing the game?

Observers say that Tuesday’s disaster at Ghatkopar was waiting to happen. Though a probe has been ordered to fix responsibility, locals said that structural changes were being made in the nursing home on the ground floor and that had weakened the building. The hospital is owned by Sunil Sitap and his wife, Swati. Sunil is also a local Shiv Sena leader.

Vandana Singh, who survived the crash, said, “Sunil and Swati Sitap are my neighbours. They had undertaken extensive renovation of the hospital and their flat. This mishap occurred only because of that.”

Congress leader and former corporator form the area, Pravin Chedda, said that Sunil was actually converting the entire premises into a guest house without taking any sanction from the BMC. “The person to be blamed for this accident is Sunil, who has undertaken illegal repair work. He and his architect had not even taken a no-objection certificate before undertaking these repairs,” Chedda alleged.

Some locals told Free Press Journal that they had raised the issue with the ward office and even filed a complaint. But nothing was done to stop the renovation work.