Monday's South Mumbai landslide has set residents who live near hillocks elsewhere in the city on edge
Monday's South Mumbai landslide has set residents who live near hillocks elsewhere in the city on edge
The landslide in Haji Ali two days ago, thatu00a0 claimed two lives, has raised concerns among residents across the city who live near hilly areas about their own safety.
MiD DAY overviews three such societies, living too close to the mountains, to be comfortable in these rainy days.
Highland Park
The western edge of Bhandup and Mulund comprises Sanjay Gandhi National Park and a small mountain.
Highland Park building, located on Guru Gobind Singh road, Mulund (W) is a complex, which is the closest to these two natural features.
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| (Clockwise from right): The debris from the landslide that occurred inext to the 10-storey Vellard View Society near Heer Panna; Atlantic Society abuts Gilbert Hill in Andheri; one of its residents points to the hill up close; Highland Park society at Mulund can be seen set against a mountain. Pics/Datta Kumbhar, Sameer Markande,MAhesh Chafe |
A few years ago, the compound wall between the building complex and the mountain had broken.
While residents claimed that it was because of the faulty work on the compound, one resident said that in the monsoon, the water does carry mud down to their complex.
S Kanan, the secretary of one of the wings of the building, said, "We have constructed the boundary wall again and we are getting it redone to minimise any problems.
We are close to the mountain, but then we have taken all sorts of precautions.
The boundary wall is constructed at a distance so that in case of a landslide, nothing would happen to the buildings."
Another resident said, "During heavy rains the water brings with it loads of soil, and sometimes, it does appear a bit dangerous. However, we are hopeful that everything would be managed."
Sagar City SocietyGilbert hill, one of the oldest hills in the city in Andheri West, has scared the residents of Sagar City Society around the hill. The distance between the society and the hill is about 10 metres.
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There are around five 15-storey buildings in the society, each about 10 years old.
The Indian Ocean and Atlantic buildings are the closest to the hill, which is about 300 years old. Three centuries have worked huge gaping cracks inu00a0 it.
Mirza Zaffar (64), a resident of Indian Ocean building of Sagar City Society, said, "Yes, the hill is dangerous as it has become very old.
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Stones keep breaking off and falling into our compound during monsoon, damaging our cars.
This year, one such incident took place a few weeks ago, with one of the cars of a building members' car getting dented because of a stone which fell from the hill."
Abdul Rashid, resident of Atlantic building which is the closest building to the hill, said, "There is a fear in our mind of what would happen.
But as this is a natural thing, no matter how much we run from it, it would follow us.
In fact, now we have become habitual to this problem. We cannot stop the stones from falling so we have stopped parking our cars in that area.
Our building faced tremendous damage because of the rocks which usually fall during night time when it rains heavily and when it is very windy."
Shubham Rathod (13), another resident of Atlantic, said, "A few days ago when we were playing in the compound in the back of the building, we saw a huge stone falling.
We started running back to our houses, as we were scared. Since then, we have stopped playing in the compound in the back area, which is very near to the hill."
Jupiter and NeptuneSharadchand Phadke, 55, a resident of Neptune building which is near a hillock at Powai, said, "A natural calamity cannot be avoided.
If we live near a hill, there is a chance of a landslide happening. There is a fear in the minds of my family members as well as mine, but we cannot stop living here just because we are afraid. Life goes on."
Radha Vaidya, 39, a resident of Jupiter, another building near the hillock said, "There is some fear in my mind. The rains in the city are notorious, when I read the article in the papers about what happened near Worli.
I thought for a split second, O God even we live near a hill and a landslide could happen at anytime. But my husband consoled me saying that these incidents are freaks and not all hills have landslides."
Tanya Rao, 19, a resident of Neptune, said, "Many of my friends in college asked me the same questions, as I go to Sophia college, which is near the area where the incident happened. And they know that I also live near a hill.
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At the back of my mind there is some fear, but my parents have assured me that a landslide does not happen everyday, which I also agree with."
Bipin Khade, 28, a resident of Neptune, said, "So far, no one has thought of shifting or anything like that but there is some introspection in everyone's minds about the incident near Heera Panna.
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I spoke to my neighbours and they think that they live too near a hill and are susceptible to a landslide when it rains heavily. There is fear in our minds which I think is normal, but no phobias or anything like that."
