Day after 1 died in slab collapse, UMC says Paras bldg was asked to do structural audit

After two incidents of slab collapse in May that had killed a total of 12 residents, UMC had served notices to 1,500 buildings in Ulhasnagar, asking them to carry out a structural audit

A day after one resident of Paras building in a slab collapse incident, the Ulhasnagar Municipal Corporation (UMC) has revealed that the structure was among the buildings that had received a notice for structural audit in May.

Late on Saturday night, the slab of the fifth-floor house of the building, located at Gandhi Nagar, Camp 5, collapsed on the fourth floor. A resident on the fifth floor had suffered major injuries in the incident and was later declared dead at a hospital. (Rishikesh Choudhary/ Hindustan Times)

Late on Saturday night, the slab of the fifth-floor house of the building, located at Gandhi Nagar, Camp 5, collapsed on the fourth floor. Aakash Poptani, 25, the fifth-floor resident who was in his bedroom had suffered major injuries in the incident. Poptani, a bank employee, was rushed to Central Hospital, but was declared dead there. Two other residents also suffered injuries in the incident.

Amit Udasi, 34, one of the friends of the victim, said, “After the building received notice from the civic body, Akash along with his parents had shifted to another house in Ulhasnagar. But he used to visit Paras building during the weekend to move his belongings to the new house. On Saturday too, he had been there for the same work and died. The incident is very tragic as his parents are in a shock.”

Paras building has 15 flats that house four to five families and four shops.

After two incidents of slab collapse in May that had killed a total of 12 residents, UMC had served notices to 1,500 buildings in the city, asking them to carry out a structural audit. The incidents had highlighted the need for structural audits of all the unsafe buildings in the city built around 1995.

“This building is one of the structures made of inferior quality sand – Ulwe sand – during the 1994-1998 period. We had served notice to the residents to conduct a structural audit. We will check if the audit was done and if necessary steps were taken. Right now, we have sealed the [Paras] building,” said Yuvraj Badhane, public relations officer, UMC.

As per UMC, of the 179 buildings thart were listed by the civic body as ‘priority’ for structural audits, 117 have submitted their report. Following this, UMC has demolished 30 buildings and evacuated the occupants of 32 structures.

“The process of structural audit of these building is underway through a panel set up for the same. This is being done on a regular basis,” said Raja Dayanidhi, commissioner, UMC.