THANE: Two persons died and another was injured after the slab of the third floor of a 25-year-old ground-plus-four storey building came crashing at Rabodi in Thane around 6am on Sunday. The incident took place in the C-wing of Khatri Building owned by Ashfaq Vagani. The slab that crashed trapped three people.
“I heard a loud thud... As as I came out of my apartment, I saw dust all around, heard people yelling,” said a resident of another wing.
"The risk people take to live in dilapidated buildings is because they have little faith in the authorities who warn them to move out of such structures. There have been innumerable cases where occupants had to vacate their old homes and later forced to live in cramped transit tenements for years, waiting for their buildings to be redeveloped. Sunday’s tragic incident is another reminder of the housing crisis and the government’s abject failure to redevelop old and dilapidated buildings in a time-bound manner.-TimesView"
The disaster management cell of TMC and other agencies began rescue work and pulled out the three trapped persons. Two of them who died were identified as Rameez Shaikh (32) and Gous Tamboli (38). The injured person, Farha Gous Tamboli (10), is seriously injured and has been shifted to a local hospital.
As a precautionary measure A, B & C wings of 73 flats of Khatri Apartment were evacuated and residents of all three wings temporarily shifted to a nearby madarasa.
Guardian minister for Thane Eknath Shinde visited the site of the slab collapse and said that implementation of cluster development on priority was the only solution for the perennial problem of dilapidated and dangerous buildings and the cluster plan has been approved by the TMC.
Shindesaid, “It is unfortunate that the slab of the building crashed in which two persons lost their lives. The residents had been repeatedly warned to evacuate.”
“The family members of the deceased will be granted compensation as per government norms. Now the elected representatives, civic corporation and occupants should meet and finalise development works and implement it,” Shinde said.
A civic official said that the entire building of three wings and 73 flats has been sealed and an audit of the same would be conducted.
An inspection of the building had been done in 2013 and it was declared ‘dangerous’ and served a notice.
