Mumbai: Even as the death toll in the Mazgaon building collapse has reached 54, and continues to rise, the real picture of the tragedy is unfolding as families cope to struggle with the loss. As rescuers struggle against time, the human tragedy of the collapse is unbearable for many.
Among those who have died is 30-year-old journalist Yogesh Anant Pawar, who worked for the Marathi daily Sakal. Originally from Jaitapur in Ratnagiri district, Yogesh had come to Mumbai to work as a journalist. While Yogesh’s father’s body was pulled out earlier, his body was pulled out this afternoon. Santosh Kamble, Yogesh’s brother-in-law told reporters, “He used to live with his father here. His mother, his brothers and his sister have arrived from the village.”
Many people still feared trapped in the mangled debris. And as precious hours pass away, chances of finding survivors are fading. Miraculously, even after 24 hours, some survivors have been pulled out by the National Disaster Response Force or NDRF. Sachidanand Gawde, Deputy Commandant of the NDRF, said, “We are using victim locating cameras and we have used it locate him and find his exact position. We have used an airlifting bag to lift the slab he is trapped under.”
The question now on everyone’s mind is, could this tragedy have been averted? The building is owned by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation or BMC itself and was listed for major repairs by its own officers. Unfortunately, these repairs were never carried out. The Mayor of Mumbai has promised an inquiry into the delay of repairs and said that anyone found responsible will be dealt with in the strictest manner.
A decorator who had a godown on the ground floor has now been arrested and sent to police custody till Tuesday for alleged illegal alterations. He has been booked for culpable homicide not amounting to murder.
But that is hardly any compensation for those who have lost everything they had. This is the seventh building to have collapsed in the last six months in Mumbai and Thane and hundreds of lives have been lost. But the most important question is, with nearly 950 very dangerous buildings in Mumbai alone, how many more collapses will it take for authorities to act?
Mumbai, September 28: The death toll in the Mazgaon building collapse on Saturday rose to 43 even as rescuers scoured the massive rubble looking for survivors and bodies.
The owner of a decoration firm who illegally carried out “faulty” renovation at his rented office-cum-warehouse on the ground floor of the building has been arrested in connection with the incident.
“The death toll in the collapse has risen to 43 and 32 people are injured,” civic body sources told PTI and added that more people were still believed to be trapped under the debris.
The injured have been admitted to state-run J.J. Hospital and Nair Hospital.
The five-storey building on the Brahmadev Khot Marg, close to Dockyard Road railway station, was owned by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation. It had collapsed early Friday.
As hopes of pulling out survivors receded fast, anxious relatives of those missing were thronging the scene of the tragedy.
Cranes and other heavy machinery have been pressed into service to lift large slabs of concrete and mangled steel.
As many as 21 families of BMC’s tenants lived in the 30-year-old structure categorised as a C-2 building which was in need of urgent repairs.
Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan has promised strict action against those found responsible for the tragedy. The BMC has formed two committees to probe into the incident and ordered audit of similar buildings in the city.
Steps are being made to provide alternative accommodation to the affected families in the vicinity. The civic body has announced a compensation of Rs. 2 lakh to the families of every deceased person, besides bearing the cost of treatment of those injured.
“Ashok Mehta, the owner of Mamamiya Decorators, has been arrested for renovating his office-cum-warehouse on the ground floor of the building, thus causing the collapse,” said an officer at Sewree police station, where a complaint has been registered.
