Thane: Protection wall of a nullah collapses in Mumbra; none hurt

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The protection wall of a nullah collapsed in Mumbra area of Maharashtra's Thane district on Friday and no one was injured in the incident, a civic official told news agency PTI.

The incident took place in Rana Nagar area of Reti Bunder around 1.30 pm, Yasin Tadvi, chief of the civic disaster management cell told PTI.

Local firemen and the disaster management team rushed to the spot and cleared the debris, he said.

The protection wall was 20 feet long, and the impact caused the wall of a house built on the nullah to also collapse, the official told PTI.

Civic officials have sealed two affected houses and shifted the occupants, he added.

Earlier, Commissioner of Thane Municipal Corporation (TMC) on Wednesday pulled up the civic officials over the unauthorised constructions in the city, asking them to immediately act against the offenders and file police complaints instead of being just "spectators".

Civic chief Abhijit Bangar gave the instructions during an emergency meeting, a day after district guardian minister Shambhuraj Desai asked the officials to act tough against the unauthorised constructions.

During the meeting, the civic chief directed the TMC officials to ensure that unauthorised structures do not receive water and power supply.

He warned that action will be taken against executive engineers if new unauthorised structures are found getting water and electricity supply.

"The officials should not remain spectators...Are you waiting for the unauthorised structures to claim the lives of people? Ensure that due to your negligence the lives of people are not risked," he asked the senior officials.

Boards should be put up outside illegal structures, informing people not to purchase houses in the project and complaints should be lodged with the police against the offenders for further action, he said.

Pointing out that a number of complaints about illegal constructions have been received from Kalwa, Diwa and Mumbra areas in the city, Bangar said, "While demolishing the unauthorised buildings and houses, the officials should ensure that such structures are pulled down completely."

"Details of each and every unauthorised structure needs to be registered and if the Assistant Municipal Commissioner concerned fails to take action, and if there is any delay, then that official will face disciplinary action," he added.

The municipal commissioner also asked the officials to prepare a dashboard giving details about the unauthorised constructions within 15 days.

A building located in Lucky Compound of Mumbras Shil-Daighar area, came down crashing on April 4, 2013, killing 74 people and injuring over 60.

(With inputs from PTI)