The incident in which the front portion of a building collapsed in Bhayandar, leaving a 45-year-old cobbler dead and four others injured, found its echo in the ongoing monsoon session of the state assembly on Friday. The front portion of the over three-decade old ground-plus-three storied Nav-Kirti Estate located opposite the east side of Bhayandar railway station had collapsed at around 10:30 am on Thursday.
Taking a serious note of the incident, Shiv Sena legislator Pratap Sarnaik highlighted the issue in the assembly while levelling serious charges that despite being declared as dangerous and unfit for human habitation by the Mira Bhayandar Municipal Corporation (MBMC), several commercial establishments including restaurants and ladies’ bars continued with their illegal activities defying eviction orders.
Pratap Sarnaik writes to CM calling for action
“Due to the greed of some people, a poor boot-polisher who was having tea near the building was buried alive. If this incident had occurred in the night hundreds of people including staffers and patrons visiting these bars could have lost their lives," he said.
"I have written to the chief minister demanding a probe and to book such greedy owners for negligence causing death. The MBMC should promptly conduct a survey and evacuate such structures with immediate effect.” said Sarnaik.
The upper floors of the building had been evacuated, however, commercial entities on the ground floor did not pay heed to eviction orders. “We had already followed the due process of law by issuing eviction notices multiple times after an elaborate exercise to identify and evacuate dangerous buildings at the ward level,” said Deputy Municipal Commissioner Maruti Gaikwad. “We are conducting a probe into the matter. Those found guilty of negligence will be taken to task,” said Navghar police station Senior Inspector Vijay Pawar.
Building Listed Under C1 Category.
The MBMC had conducted a pre-monsoon survey to get the structural audit done of all the 30-year-old plus buildings in the twin-city in which 15 buildings were tagged as dangerous. While most of them were razed, some continued to be occupied despite notices. The buildings are categorized into three types- C1, C2, and C3, following a structural audit.
The C1 category buildings are considered most dangerous to live in, and are vacated and demolished. The C2 category covers those that require major reconstruction, and the C3 category are those that require minor repairs. The Nav-Kirti building falls under the C1 category which mandates immediate evacuation and demolition of the structure.
