A 63-year-old man was killed on Sunday morning after the portion of a derelict building collapsed on their house in Ulhasnagar. The deceased, Gopaldas Gabra, is the second person to die in a structural mishap occurring within less than a month. A labourer was killed in a similar incident which had occurred on August 25.
Sunday's fatal mishap was reported at 8.30 am from the Barrack number 946 area where the more than two-decades-old Sai Sadan building stands. The three-storey structure with four flats was adjacent to the house inhabited by Gopaldas and his wife Barkha.
After getting an alert about the incident, civic chief Aziz Shaikh reached the spot, while the injured couple were taken to the Ulhasnagar Central Hospital.
According to the Ulhasnagar Municipal Corporation (UMC), the injured Gopaldas died within a few hours of the treatment. Speaking about the life-threatening problem of old buildings in Ulhasnagar, UMC assistant commissioner Ganesh Shimpi said, “The state government took a decision to solve the problem of dangerous buildings in Ulhasnagar city. But the implementation will still take a long time.” As per the preliminary information, Sai Sadan was not on the list of dangerous buildings. However, a notice was issued to the residents of this building for a structural audit, Shimpi added.
The relatives of Gopaldas have demanded compensation from the state government.
