A seven-storied building collapsed in Vakola, Santa Cruz, on Friday morning, killing seven people and injuring four others.
The deceased have been identified as Chandraben Patel (46), Sudha Shridharan (32), Louis Nonas (60), Sundarabai Pardhi (66), Rajeshri Pardhi (35), Aditya Pardhi (10) and Ayush Pardhi (7). The four injured — Akshay Kesarkar (18), Sita Kesarkar (60), Rohini Jagtap (47) and Satyam Shridharan (39) — have been admitted to VN Desai Hospital.
According to Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) officials, the 1982-built Shankar Lok building at Yashwant Nagar fell in the C1 category, implying it was dangerous and had to be vacated immediately. The civic body had declared the building as “dilapidated” in 2008 and issued an evacuation notice to its residents and also to nearby chawls and societies.
Twenty-five of the 27 families living in the building vacated it, but the Sridharan family went to court against the BMC notice. Though the matter is subjudice, the high court in October 2013 ruled that residents can stay there at their own risk and the BMC would not be responsible in case of any mishap.
While one of the seven persons who died was from the Sridharan family, the other six deaths were from the adjoining chawls — Catherine Chawl One and Two — which bore the brunt of the collapse. The building collapsed at around 11.30 am, causing panic among locals.
Suman Khandare, a resident of one of the chawls whose house was damaged in the collapse, said, “The building collapsed with a big thud. I barely managed to come out before it collapsed.”
Two teams of the National Disaster Response Force comprising 60 personnel and more than 40 fire officers were pressed into rescue operations.
Local corporator Sunaina Potnis from the Shiv Sena said, “The building was in a dangerous condition since several years. We had written several letters to civic officials to pursue the matter in court. We even asked the two families living in it to vacate it at the earliest. However they alleged we were harassing them.”
According to Ajitkumar Ambi, assistant municipal commissioner (H-East ward), the Sridharan and the Pandey families continued to live on the ground floor after the Sridharan family went to court against the BMC’s eviction notice and the court stayed the demolition of the building.
