The court had ordered all three wings of the building to be demolished within 24 hours of the collapse at the hearing on Saturday. Residents have been accommodated in the vicinity as of now
The rubble of A wing of Om Shree Gitanjali Nagar Society, Borivli West. Pic/Nimesh Dave
It was a fortuitous escape for residents of a Borivli building. There were no injuries after a four-storey residential building in the western suburbs collapsed. The ‘A’ wing of the building caved in. There were five families that lived in the building, but as soon as they saw big cracks in the walls, they rushed out.
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The court had ordered all three wings of the building to be demolished within 24 hours of the collapse at the hearing on Saturday. Residents have been accommodated in the vicinity as of now.
The demolition must be orderly and go according to the timeline. At times we see parts of a building demolished while some parts are hanging precariously.
The entire area has to be cordoned off well, while work is on and safety nets in place to prevent any object hitting people while demolition is on. Signage warning people of work going on and not to walk in the vicinity should be up, so that people are warned beforehand.
There must be some good lighting around the perimeter so that people can see demolition work as darkness falls and try to avoid walking in its path.
Have concern and empathy for locals near here, as noisy work must stop during night time. There must also be effective dispersal and picking up of debris so that there are no obstructions in the public space with mounds of debris or rubbish. We often see that clean-up operations are delayed or debris is simply piled up with nobody taking charge of who is going to clean the space, or how it is going to be carted away.
Residents and civic authorities must work towards a solution and establish exactly who is responsible and how this will take place. Clear-cut communication on both sides will be needed as operation demolish and clean-up begins.