THANE :

 

AT LEAST 10 people were killed and three others injured after a four-storey residential building, tagged as ‘dangerous’ in 2020 by the local civic body and currently undergoing repairs illegally, collapsed in Bhiwandi town of Maharashtra’s Thane district, officials said on Friday. Hectic efforts were on to rescue three other residents believed to be still trapped under the rubble, several hours after the collapse, they said. A portion of the Kohinoor Building in the Balaji Nagar area of the powerloom town, around 50 km from Mumbai, came crashing down at 11.20 pm on Thursday. Rescue workers from the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), Thane Disaster Response Force (TDRF), and the municipal fire brigade pulled out ten bodies as heavy machinery and sniffer dogs were deployed to look for survivors under the debris of the four-storey structure, said the officials of the district disaster management cell. The structure comprised 48 rooms, 12 on each floor. Around 9 pm on Thursday, residents heard “loud cracking sounds” emanating from the building, an official said. Fearing the worst, locals immediately helped evacuate many families to other locations.

 

However, while some occupants were still making their way out, the ‘B’ wing of the building caved in, he said. The officials said five of the deceased were identified as Shamim Shaikh (32), Ranjeet Singh (45), Miraj Rasul Shaikh (34), Santosh Kumar Pandey (42) and Shamim Ansari (30). The Bhiwandi Nizampur City Municipal Corporation (BNCMC) said it had identified the building as “dangerous” in September 2020, and finally issued eviction notices on June 5 this year, subsequently disconnecting electricity and water supply. But despite that, the property owners initiated structural repair works without obtaining any permission from the civic body. President Droupadi Murmu and Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed grief over the loss of lives in the building collapse. Expressing grief over the crash, Fadnavis said he has instructed the authorities to register a case and take strict action against the culprits. In a statement in Mumbai, Fadnavis said, “Instructions have been issued to the Municipal Commissioner to file a case immediately and take strict action against the culprits.” BNCMC said the building was identified as “dangerous” and a notice was first issued on September 7, 2020, ordering property owners to submit a structural audit report.