When the Ramabai Apartment in Vasai-Virar collapsed like a pack of cards last week, families ran for their lives, clutching whatever belongings they could save. Now, just 40 kilometres away in Palghar, 49 buildings have been officially declared dangerous by the Palghar Municipal Council (PMC).

Despite notices being issued before the monsoon, many of these buildings remain occupied, with families still living inside. The council has also identified 25 structures that require evacuation and structural repairs, and another 15 that need urgent repairs without evacuation. “Where do we go?” asks a resident of Nandabhuvan building, one of the structures blacklisted by the PMC. 

“Every monsoon, we hear the same warning — this building will fall, vacate immediately. But tell me, where do we go?” Like him, hundreds of families continue to gamble with their lives inside buildings already marked unsafe, because survival leaves them no choice.