Part of building crashes in Bhayander East; one dead, four injured

When Mumbai and Thane region received moderate to heavy rain, a tragedy occurred in Bhayander East where the front portion of a ground plus three-storey building collapsed. A 45-year-old man died, four people were injured in the incident and an auto-rickshaw parked was crushed beyond repair.

Fire brigade officials reached the area - Nav-Kirti Estate, opposite Bhayander East railway station and began the rescue operation. The incident occurred around 10.30 am. Mira Bhayandar Municipal Corporation (MBMC) recently declared the more than 30-year-old building unsafe and dangerous for human habitation. Though MBMC claims that the building was evacuated, some commercial establishments, including a bar on the ground and first floor continued running their business secretly. The MBMC as part of their annual pre-monsoon routine, had declared 14 buildings in the twin city as dangerous. Of these six structures are tangled in a legal mess and the rest evacuated.

Along with many senior officers, municipal commissioner Dilip Dhole reached the spot and supervised the rescue operations. Dhole said, “This building was declared dangerous and evacuated after following the due law process last month. Four people and an auto-rickshaw driver who sustained injuries are being treated at the civic hospital.” MBMC commissioner added that an elaborate exercise to identify and evacuate dangerous buildings was undertaken by ward officials. “We have brought to the notice of the court about owners who have obtained a stay and have repeatedly appealed to occupants about the risk involved in living in such structures.”

Chief fire officer Prakash Borade said that three fire tenders, a rescue van, and 54 fire brigade personnel reached the spot and conducted a search operation to ensure that no one had been trapped under the debris. The deceased identified as Durga Avdesh Ram (45) worked as a boot polisher at the railway station was recovered while clearing the debris in the evening. The injured are identified as Indrajeet Sharma (48), George Fernandes (55), Harishankar Maurya (55), and Abid Ali (22). Meanwhile, the twin city witnessed 250 mm of rainfall on Wednesday and Thursday.