Bhiwandi building collapse: 12 families from neighbouring structure left homeless too

Another 12 families were forced to rush out of their apartments, carrying their furniture and other belongings, on Sunday morning, after debris from the four-storey

Another 12 families were forced to rush out of their apartments, carrying their furniture and other belongings, on Sunday morning, after debris from the four-storey illegal building that collapsed on Saturday, fell on the adjacent building.

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“We don’t want to live here as the debris has fallen on our building; it is unsafe to reside here anymore. We are shifting to some other place nearby,” said Momeen Fatir, 19, who lived with his family of three in the affected building.

On Saturday, 22 families of the four-storey building were evacuated after it developed cracks.

The same day as the collapse, the civic body had also evacuated 10 families of a nearby chawl as a safety precaution.

“We have been asked to move out until a safety audit is done. The building is around 10 years old. Most of the residents have decided to move out on our own as we have learned from the collapse,” said Shahid Khan, 22, another resident of the neighbsouring building.

Ashok Rankhamb, Bhiwandi Nizampur City Municipal Corporation (BNCMC) commissioner said, “We have asked the residents to move out for safety reasons. Until an audit is done and a suggestion is given, we will not allow them to stay in the building.”

There are several such structures in the area which are illegal and look unsafe despite not being very old.

These buildings have very narrow access roads.

The civic body had demolished a six-storey structure 15 days back which was also illegal, after forcefully evacuating the residents.