Tilted building at Navi Mumbai will be razed on Monday

The empty building at Kalamboli — part of which collapsed on Thursday —has yet not been demolished. The civic body said it will demolish the building on Monday. The six-storey building, Ridhima, was 25 years old and had been lying vacant since 2011. But, the society members still own the houses.

The empty building at Kalamboli — part of which collapsed on Thursday —has yet not been demolished. The civic body said it will demolish the building on Monday.

PCMC had planned to demolition the building on Friday, it had asked the nearby shops to shut till the demolition. (HT photo(Representative photo))

The six-storey building, Ridhima, was 25 years old and had been lying vacant since 2011. But, the society members still own the houses.

Jamir Lengrekar, deputy municipal commissioner, Panvel City Municipal Corporation (PCMC), said, “We had plans to demolish the building on Friday. However, society members asked for two days’ time to demolish the building themselves to save on cost.”

“Despite asking for time, they failed to demolish the building. On Saturday, we filed an FIR against the society members for endangering lives of residents who live nearby,” he said.

“We will now demolish the building on Monday as it cannot be done on the weekend as the machines are in Pune. We need special permission of the highway authority to get the machines. The movement of the machines is barred on weekends,” said Lengrekar.

Since PCMC had planned to demolition the building on Friday, it had asked the nearby shops to shut till the demolition.

The shops have been closed for past two days. “My shop is closed for three days now. I am losing business. I hope the building is demolished soon,” said Jitendra Patel, 50, a Kalamboli resident.

More than 400 people living around the dilapidated building are in fear as the structure is tilted from one side.

Ajit Godbole, 45, a Kalamboli resident, said, “The civic body had planned to demolish the building, but the society members stopped them. The members are not willing to pay the demolition charges. They are risking the lives of the people. It is good that PCMC has decided to demolish the building.”

Atmaram Kadam, an activist from Kalamboli, said, “If the demolition is delayed, the building might fall on its own and cause more damage.”

More than 20 families, living in nearby areas, were asked to vacate their homes till the demolition. “I have been staying at my aunt’s place for the past two days. The delay in demolition is causing a lot of problems for us,” said Khusbu Shrestha, 42, a Kalamboli resident.