19 dead, 14 injured as building, declared dilapidated by BMC in 2016, collapses

The building in Kurla that collapsed on Monday night was declared dangerous by the civic body in 2016 The residents had opposed it and said theyrsquod take up the responsibility of audit and repair but then left it leading to the collapse and loss of at least 19 livesLocated behind the MSRTC bus depot in Kurla East amid other dilapidated and abandoned structures the approach of Naik Nagar society through slum settlements made it difficult for heavier vehicles to reach the spot quickly Local residents meanwhile rescued 45 people stranded on the upper floor using saree as rope before the fire brigade reached the spot said former corporator Pravina MorajkarAround 100 rescuers from 12 teams of the Mumbai Fire Brigade and National Disaster Response Force are working for the rescue operation which started on Monday night The rescue team is also taking the help of a trained dog to search for peopleThe building was first served a notice for repairs in 2013According to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporationrsquos disaster management cell the entire A wing of the ground plus threestorey Naik Nagar society came down like a pack of cards Till the time of going to press the toll stood at 19 and the number of injured was 14 including four who are undergoing treatment at Rajawadi HospitalAlso Read PHOTOS Fourstorey building collapses in Kurla rescue operation underwayFirst notice in 2013ldquoThe land was given to Naik Nagar society in 1966 The BMC also declared the building constructed in 1975 as dilapidatedrdquo said Nidhi Chaudhari Mumbai Suburban collector As per officials the BMC first issued a notice to the building for repairs in 2013 But with no initiative from residents or the BMC the buildingrsquos condition continued to deteriorate further and it was finally declared ldquodilapidatedrdquo in 2016 The residents got an audit done from private auditor Sachdev and Associates and submitted a structural audit report which stated that the building was repairable After this report the BMC removed the building from the dilapidated list However sources said the residents did not bother about repairs after thisAudit done but no repairsldquoThe residents had given an undertaking that they are living in the building at their own risk The building falls in the C2B category which means it should go for repair immediately But we came to know that the building was not repairedrdquo said a civic official Most residents who were living in the building on the day of the crash were tenantsldquoWe will again check the structural audit report In case of a private building BMC allows societies to conduct structural audits through empaneled firms Otherwise people allege that we purposely sent noticerdquo said BMC chief I S Chahal who visited the spot Mumbai Suburban Guardian Minister Aaditya Thackrey and state minister Subhash Desai too visited the spot The state government has declared Rs 5lakh compensation to the families of the deceasedActivist blames BMCCivic activist Anil Galgali however slammed the civic body saying that they should have been more careful ldquoWhy did the officials not visit the building after 2016 As per rules every building older than 30 years needs to be audited It seems that this building has not been audited since 2016 This is BMCrsquos responsibility The authority should take strict action against those responsiblerdquo he said Meanwhile local MLA Mangesh Kudalkar who is in Guwahati said ldquoOur leader and minister Eknath Shinde has offered compensation to the dead and injured victims and we offer our condolences from hererdquoNames of deceased1 Ajay Bhola Paaspor 302 Ajinkya Gaikwad 343 Kushar Prajapati 204 Sikandar Rajbhar 215 Arvind RajendraBharati 196 Anup Rajbhar 187 Anil Yadav 218 Shyam Prajapati 189 Leelabai Gaikwad 6010 Pralhad Gaikwad 6511 Ramesh NagsiBaliya 5012 Guddu Lalendra Paaspor 2213 Birju Manjhi 2214 Rahul Manjhi 2115 Pappu Manjhi 3516 Mahesh Manjhi 40 17 Vinod Manjhi 3518 Unknown19 Unknown