Mumbai, July 06: Two buildings in south Mumbai bore the brunt of the heavy spell of rain in the city on Saturday and early Sunday.A part of a three-storeyed private structure located at the 3rd Agiary Lane near Zaveri Bazaar collapsed an hour past midnight, killing one person and injuring three.
According to deputy municipal commissioner Kishor Kshirsagar, the building had been declared dangerous by the BMC before the monsoon started. The civic body had already vacated the tenants. It came down on four bystanders, killing Ram Singh Verma, 35, and injuring Surendra Ram Verma, 20; Rakesh Ram Verma, 22; and Arjun Khanal, 22. The four were selling food items in the lane (Khau gully) abutting the building. Surendra, Rakesh and Arjun were admitted to Sir Gokuldas Tejpal hospital with head injuries.
“We always slept at a spot near the building. We had just finished dinner and were about to sleep when a part of the building collapsed,” Arjun said. “Surendra, Rakesh and Ram Singh, their father, were knocked unconscious while I bled profusely,” Arjun said. Ram Singh was declared dead on admission at the hospital.
The rear portion of a four-storeyed cessed building (G+3) at Vithalwadi in Kalbadevi collapsed at 9am on Sunday, the BMC said. It fell on a portion of an adjoining six-storeyed building (G+5). No casualties were reported. “Only one family resided on the top floor which was evacuated and will be moved to a Mhada transit shelter at Wadala,” Janak Sanghvi, local corporator, said.
MM Chimankar, executive engineer of the Mumbai repair board of Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority, said the building had been categorised as dangerous and had been taken up for repairs. Meanwhile, rains took a break on Sunday as lake levels in catchment belts continued to deplete. Officials from the BMC hydraulic department are expected to review the water situation on Monday.
–Agencies–