MUMBAI’S TRYST WITH TRAGEDIES IN 2017
H ours before 2017 fades into history, it leaves behind a trail of deaths, destruction and disasters that cropped up in Mumbai at regular intervals making the city hit the headlines for all the wrong reasons.
DECEMBER 29: 14 persons killed and 55 injured in a major blaze in a rooftop pub that engulfed the Kamala Mills Compound in Lower Parel.
DECEMBER 18: 12 migrant labourers wer charred to death 1 and 10 hurt when a fire broke out in a dry snacks and ‘farsan’ wholesale shop in Sakinaka, Andheri east.
OCTOBER 6: A major blaze erupted in a BPCL diesel tank following a lightning strike as the city and surroundings were lashed by torrential rain and thunderstorm. Though there were no human casualties, an undisclosed quantity of diesel worth crores of rupees burnt out for nearly three days before the fire was extinguished.
SEPTEMBER 29: 23 commuters killed and 39 hurt in a stampede on a narrow, congested foot overbridge on Elphinstone Road of Western Railway connecting with Parel of Central Railway, allegedly due to heavy rains and rumours.
AUGUST 31: 33 residents were killed and another 17 hurt when a century-old dilapidated building collapsed off Pakmodia Street in the densely-populated Bhendi Bazaar area of south Mumbai. The building was due for redevelopment undertaken by a private NGO in the vicinity.
AUGUST 29: 12 persons, including wellknown doctor Deepak Amarapurkar, killed in various rain-related incidents as Mumbai received the second-highest rainfall in a single day after the great floods of July 26, 2005.
AUGUST 5: Three students of the Unal Mill High School, Mahim, washed away into the Arabian Sea as huge tidal waves lashed the city’s shoreline at the Dadar Chowpatty.
JULY 25: 17 persons were killed and 11 others injured when a four-storied building Sai Darshan suddenly collapsed in Ghatkopar.
JANUARY 23: Six minor children, aged between six and 13, sustained burns in a fire that broke out in a slum pocket in the LCC Compound, adjacent to the Masjid Bunder station. Though all the children later survived despite their burns, the Central Railway was compelled to halt all operations for nearly an hour as power supply was switched off to prevent spread of the blaze or damage to railway assets.