MUMBAI: In the second such mishap in six months in the same SRA building, three school-going teenagers and two women suffered injuries when an elevator crashed to the ground from the 10th floor of 16-storey Mahakali Darshan in Andheri (east) a little after Monday noon.
While three of them suffered leg fractures, a mother-son duo had severe bruises and swelling on their legs. Two of the students sustained injuries to knee caps, the surgery for which will cost Rs 4 lakh each.
"Worryingly, cases of lift crashes, some of them fatal, have been occurring frequently in Mumbai, and the latest incident shows that stringent safety standards regarding design, construction and installation of elevators must be strictly enforced. This is the second lift crash in a slum rehabilitation building in the past two months. A thorough inquiry must be conducted, and responsibility fixed.Slum dwellers, who are relocated from shanties into high-rise buildings, must be trained on how to use lifts and ensure their maintenance.-TimesView"
Six months ago, Omega Elevators had carried out servicing of both the elevators in the building, after two senior citizens suffered back injuries when the other elevator crashed from the fourth floor. Now, the BMC has instructed the public works department (PWD) to see if the elevators have proper certification and licences.
"The victims said though they had pressed the button for the ground floor from the fifth, the elevator zipped up to the 10th and then crashed. They were rescued by breaking the elevator door. They were rushed to hospitals in Andheri east and west," Rakesh Gurav, a resident, told TOI.
Lift maintenance firm booked after 2nd crash in six months
Five people suffered injuries when an elevator crashed to the ground from the 10th floor of Mahakali Darshan in Andheri (East) on Monday.
Six months ago, Omega Elevators had carried out servicing of both the elevators in the building following a similar mishap.
Residents said the same service team had visited the building for maintenance of elevators in the other wings too.
The mishap took place between noon and 12.30pm when the five survivors—Priyanka Panchal (50), Sangita Pawar (42) and her son Abhishek Pawar (15) and his two friends Tushar Chavan (15) and Shubham Gosavi (15) from neighbouring SRA buildings— entered the elevator on various floors.
Chavan and Gosavi, both Class 9 students, entered the elevator on the ground floor of Mahakali Darshan to meet their schoolmate Pawar, a fifth floor resident, to go to school together.
Panchal, her daughter Vrushali said, entered the elevator on the third floor to head to her workplace at Andheri’s tehsildar’s office. “I was at home when I got a call from building residents who pulled my mother out of the elevator. She suffered a fracture on her left leg below the knee,” she said.
Pawar’s elder brother Aniket said he rushed downstairs when he received a call from the former that the elevator had crashed. “My brother and mother suffered severe pressure on their legs. It should ease in two days,” he said.
Meanwhile, Gosavi has fractured both his legs.
One of the building residents and MNS party worker Prasad Parulekar said the builders and the elevator contract company “hardly provided proper maintenance that led to two mishaps in six months. The mishap was waiting to happen with little being done by the builder to address the residents’ problems”.
Another resident, Rakesh Halwai, said those residing on the lower floors rushed out when the elevator crashed and hit the spring on the ground floor with a loud thud.
Deputy Commissioner of Police (Zone X) Maheshwar Reddy said Andheri police probing the case have booked Omega Elevators which had been given the maintenance contract by the builder. Reddy said they will verify if the mishap occurred after servicing was done.
A spokesperson for Omkar Builders said Mahakali Darshan SRA building (number 1) was not constructed by them and that they had constructed other buildings (7 to 10). “They have no role in the lift mishap in the building,” said the spokesperson.
When TOI called Omega Elevators, an official who identified himself as Vilas said he was unaware about the incident and asked to check with the company’s technical official, one Kalpesh. Despite repeated attempts, he could not be contacted.
