60 dead in past collapses in Bhiwandi, yet no lessons learnt

Over 60 people have died in building collapses in Bhiwandi over the past five years. A committee was formed to tackle dangerous and illegal buildings within Bhiwandi-Nizampur City Municipal Corporation limits after 38 people were killed in a collapse in September 2020. The rural areas of Bhiwandi were not included in the survey, however, as they come under gram panchayat rule. Activists have called for a policy for buildings and godowns in both urban and rural areas to prevent future tragedies. Mumbai Metropolitan Regional Development Authority is responsible for the rural region.

Bhiwandi: Over the last five years, 60 persons have died in building collapse incidents in Bhiwandi city and its rural areas. In one of the worst instances, the Jilani building collapse in September 2020 at Patel Compound, 38 people were killed and 25 others injured.

HT Image

Following this calamity, a committee was formed to take action against all dangerous and illegal buildings within the Bhiwandi-Nizampur City Municipal Corporation (BNCMC) limits. However, the rural parts of Bhiwandi were not included in this survey, as they come under gram panchayat rule—the civic body only provides firefighting services to these areas when required.

“Our team regularly checks and lists dangerous buildings, and takes action as per the survey report,” said a BNCMC officer. “The rural areas do not fall under our jurisdiction and hence were not included in the survey. However, since there are no firefighting services available in the rural parts, we provide them with fire services as and when required.”

A local activist from Bhiwandi, Manohar Konka, said that Bhiwandi was now notorious for building and slab collapse incidents. “The rural areas of Bhiwandi are completely neglected when it comes to buildings and godowns,” he said. “The buildings may be newly constructed but do not meet even minimum standards of construction. There is no watch kept on how many godowns or residential buildings have come up here. It’s high time we had a policy for buildings and godowns in both Bhiwandi city and its rural areas to ensure that such tragedies are averted.”

Adhik Patil, Tehsildar, Bhiwandi, said that the Mumbai Metropolitan Regional Development Authority (MMRDA) was the planning authority for the Bhiwandi rural region. “The entire details of the buildings and construction is managed by MMRDA,” he said. “We don’t have any details on how many buildings here are dangerous or illegal. Our only connection with the BNCMC is its firefighting and disaster management services in case of a disaster.”

MMRDA commisioner SVR Srinivas could not be reached for a comment.