27 August,2017 08:23 AM IST | Mumbai | Laxman Singh
Her father, a Walkeshwar diamond trader, files FIR against flat owner above alleging major alterations made to the flat was putting building residents' lives in danger
Ashish Mehta points at the hole
Three days ago, a diamond trader and his wife got the scare of their lives when moments after their eight-year-old daughter had moved from the kitchen of their flat in a posh Walkeshwar building, a huge portion of the ceiling came crashing down, leaving a gaping hole.
Debris on the floor of Mehta's flat
Furious, the diamond trader, Ashish Mehta, got an FIR filed at Malabar Hill police station against Devang Shah, the owner of the flat above, and the contractor who was conducting repairs at the flat.
Ashok Mehta's daughter with the hole in the ceiling above. Pics/Shadab Khan
Mehta, who lives on the first floor of the seven-storey Sea View building at Dongarsi Road, said, "Shah has stripped all the flooring of his flat and has not taken any safety precautions. In January, there was a fire in the electrical unit in our house because of water leaking from Shah's flat."
Mehta's wife, Dhenu, said, "On August 24, my daughter, Jiya, had just come back from school. She was in the kitchen telling me about the shaking ceiling. The moment she walked away, a portion of the ceiling collapsed right at the spot she had been standing."
FIR filed against flat owner
With the recent memory of the horrific Sai Siddhi crash at Ghatkopar, in which 17 people had died, because of illegal alterations to the ground floor, Mehta immediately got an FIR lodged at the police station. Mehta said Shah removed beams and columns without consulting a structural engineer."
He added, "Before the incident on Thursday, despite complaints to the secretary and the BMC, there was no action taken. I had filed an online complaint on July 17, 2016, against the repair work. But, without even visiting the site, the civic website declared it 'resolved'. It was only after the ceiling collapsed that they stopped the work," Mehta said.
Also read: Everything you need to know about the Ghatkopar Building collapse
Stop-work notice issued
When contacted, Assistant Municipal Commissioner of D ward (Grant Road) Devidas Kshirsagar said, "I am not aware of the complaint. I will be able to tell you about the incident only on Monday."
An official from the D ward's Building and Factory department, however, downplayed the incident. "It was not a big incident as only a small portion collapsed," he said.
The official added, "However, we have issued stop-work notice. As the building is more than 30 years old, we have also issued notice to conduct a structural audit of the building and submit a report within 30 days."
'No illegal repairs'
Explaining his side, Devang Shah said, "We were only replacing the floor tiles and carrying out regular repair work. We have already got permission from the BMC." When asked about the ceiling collapse, Shah said that it was not a slab collapse, but only a gap created during replacing of the floor tiles.
Jatin Shah, the secretary of the building, said, "I am not aware of the collapse. I can't give you any answers to this."
1968
Year the building was constructed
Also read: In pictures: A recap of the Ghatkopar building collapse
