MUMBAI: Nehru Nagar police on Tuesday registered an FIR under IPC Section 304 for culpable homicide not amounting to murder against two flat owners who had rented out their flats in Naik Nagar housing society's D Wing knowing it was not safe and liveable. Nineteen residents were killed and 14 injured when the Kurla East building crashed around 11pm on Monday.
Joint commissioner of police (law and order) Vishwas Nangre Patil visited the spot on Tuesday evening. It is learnt that probe into the case is likely to go to the crime branch.
Chief minister Uddhav Thackeray announced Rs 5 lakh compensation to the kin of each of the deceased and the government said it will pay for the treatment of the injured.
"Another monsoon, another building collapse. The tragic incident once again highlights the government’s failure to provide decent public housing while it continues to encourage luxury housing for the uber-wealthy. For people who cannot afford alternate accommodation in maximum city, it becomes difficult for them to vacate their dilapidated buildings despite notices served by the authorities. Residents prefer to risk their lives because they have no choice. An RTI reply reveals there have been over 800 deaths in building crashes in Mumbai over the past four decades. This is scandalous.-Timesview"
Meanwhile, local Shiv Sena MLA Mangesh Kudalkar, who is currently camping with the Eknath Shinde group in Guwahati, took to Twitter to announce that Rs 5 lakh to the kin of the deceased will be provided by Shinde and himself.
An ex gratia of Rs 2 lakh each from Prime Minister's National Relief Fund would be given to the next of kin of the deceased. The injured would be given Rs 50,000 each, announced the office of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Nehru Nagar police have prima facie registered an accidental death report (ADR). "We have got a lot of information from various sources but our first priority is the rescue operation. Once the rescue operation is over, we will look into all aspects of what led to the collapse," said Krishna Upadhya, deputy commissioner of police (Zone 6).
When the crash occurred around 11pm on Monday, locals wondered if there was an earthquake. Suvarna Bansode, who lives a few metres away from the crashed structure at Jai Jawan Vasahut, said there was a loud noise initially and when they stepped out, they saw dust all over. "Initially we felt it was an earthquake. Later, we thought a gas cylinder may have exploded but only a few minutes later we found that an entire building had crashed," said Bhansode.
Ashish Kumar, deputy commandant, NDRF, called it a sandwich collapse. "Hundred NDRF personnel are at the site working on the rescue operation. However, not everyone is working at the same time; each time, 40 personnel are asked to take over the rescue operation. Three of our dogs are also at the site. Due to the rain, operations have slowed," said Kumar, whose team rescued three persons alive. The last person alive was pulled out at 10.30am on Tuesday almost 12 hours after the crash. The NDRF on Tuesday evening also rescued two pigeons alive from the crash site.
Before the rescuers could reach the site, some of those living in the part of the building that was still standing were rescued with ropes made out of sarees. Nidhi Choudhari, collector of Mumbai suburbs, said the building was built on collector's land. "The land was given to Naik Nagar society in the year 1966 and building came up around the year 1975," said Choudhari.
