3 dead, 2 injured after 4-storey building collapses in CBD Belapur

55 residents of Indira Niwas, including 16 children, had managed to evacuate the building minutes before it collapsed around 4.30 am, after they noticed cracks in the walls. The building, comprising 17 flats and three shops, was primarily occupied by tenants belonging to low-income groups

Navi Mumbai: Three people died and two were injured after an allegedly illegal, four-storey building collapsed in Shahbaz village in Sector 19, CBD Belapur, early on Saturday.

Navi Mumbai, India - July 27, 2024:Three dead in the G+3 building collapsed at Shahbaz Village , Belapur in Navi Mumbai, India, on Saturday, July 27, 2024. (Photo by Bachchan Kumar/ HT PHOTO) (HT PHOTO)

Fifty-five residents of 15-year-old Indira Niwas, including 16 children, had managed to evacuate the building minutes before it collapsed around 4.30 am, after they noticed cracks in the walls.

The bodies of the deceased — identified as Shafiq Ansari, 30; Miraj Ansari, 24; and Mohammad Miraj, 30 — were retrieved during a nearly 11-hour rescue operation by a team of 150-odd personnel from the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), the Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation’s (NMMC) fire department and the police.

Mohammad Miraj and Miraj Ansari, hailing from Jaunpur in Uttar Pradesh, were cousins who lived on the second floor of the building. Shafiq, their friend, was a resident of Bhiwandi. The bodies were sent to a government hospital for post-mortem.

Two people — Lalauddin Pathan, 23, and his wife Ruksar, 19 — were rescued from the rubble around 6 am. Hailing from Uttar Pradesh, the couple had gotten married seven months ago. Ruksar suffered a pelvic fracture, while Lalauddin sustained injuries on his face and body.

“At 4.50 am, the Belapur fire station received a call stating that the building had collapsed,” said P Jadhav, chief fire officer, NMMC. “Around 70 staff from across Nerul, Vashi and Belapur fire stations were deployed to the spot, and two trapped persons were rescued. They sustained minor injuries and were provided treatment.”

Survivors present at the spot recounted that the building’s walls started developing cracks just a few minutes before the entire structure fell apart. “Around 3.45 am, we got a call from a ground floor resident informing us that walls had developed cracks and parts were falling off. I instantly came out of the flat along with my kids and simultaneously also called others via phone. In another 20 minutes, by 4.30 am, the building collapsed,” said Zoya Deshmukh, a resident.

NDRF commander Sushant Sethi said that they received an alert about the building collapse at 6.30 am, after which a team was immediately deployed. “Based on the information given by the police and relatives, the search for missing persons was undertaken. By afternoon, three persons initially deemed missing were removed from the debris.”

The rescue operation was called off at 4 pm with the extraction of the third dead body. The NMMC then moved the evacuated residents of the building to a shelter home in Belapur.

According to civic officials, the building was illegal and had an unauthorised floor. In a first information report filed at the NRI Coastal Police Station, the NMMC accused the owner of the plot, Sharad Waghmare, and the developer of the building, Mahesh Khumbhar, of willingly risking and harming the lives of the residents by constructing an illegal building. HT tried contacting Khumbar via call and message, but his phone was switched off.

The accused have been charged with culpable homicide not amounting to murder, rashly or negligently as to endanger human life, and causing grievous hurt, among other sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and the Maharashtra Regional and Town Planning Act, 1966.

“Investigations are underway to ascertain the cause of the building collapse and whether there were irregularities in the construction work as well,” said NMMC commissioner Dr Kailas Shinde. “Preliminary findings suggest that the entire structure is illegal, as it was constructed on a gaothan plot, wherein no development rights are given.”

Officials also vacated around 100 residents of two other adjoining buildings. “A thorough probe into the matter is underway. However, based on the observation by NDRF, two buildings adjacent to the structure have been vacated for safety reasons as heavy machinery was in use during the rescue operation,” said a senior officer from NMMC.

Later in the day, chief minister Eknath Shinde and deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis took stock of the situation and directed the authorities to take strict action against the guilty. “The injured are out of risk. The NMMC commissioner and the Navi Mumbai police commissioner have been instructed to take stern action against the people responsible for the mishap,” said Fadnavis.

Shinde, who was in Delhi for the NITI Aayog meeting, said he has spoken to the NMMC commissioner and asked him to ensure that the injured are given proper treatment, and the rescued residents are provided with food and accommodation. “The administrative departments of the government have been directed to act on war footing to extend all required assistance to the residents,” he said.