65-year-old woman killed as building collapses in Mumbai’s Dongri area

A 65-year-old retired school principal, Mumtaj Sudhanwala, died, while six people were rescued after a portion of four-storey 100- year-old building, Razzaq Chambers,

A 65-year-old retired school principal, Mumtaj Sudhanwala, died, while six people were rescued after a portion of four-storey 100- year-old building, Razzaq Chambers, in Dongri collapsed on Wednesday.

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The building had 12 tenants, including eight residential and four commercial, and was a Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (Mhada) cessed structure. Mhada officials said a major tragedy was averted as more than 40 residents vacated the premises on Tuesday night after noticing cracks. Mhada officials said they were to carry out repairs on Wednesday morning. Sudhanwala used to stay alone in her tenanted room, while her relatives stay in Mumbra.

Cessed buildings are structures older than 1969, with several being over a hundred years old that pay a repair cess or tax to Mhada. These are largely tenanted properties with the rents here frozen under the Rent Control Act. There are over 14,000 such buildings in the island city. The authorities are also probing whether repair works carried out by a restaurant located in the building weakened the structure.

A Mhada official said, “We are allotting houses to residents in transit camps. We will get a structure stability report to ascertain whether repairs should be carried out or the building should be demolished and redeveloped. There was no proposal for redevelopment of the building.”

Afzal Dawoodani, whose brother lived on the first floor of the building, said, “The landlord made demands that no developer could agree to, which, in turn, delayed the redevelopment. We want police to book the landlord. Thankfully, my brother came to my house last night.”

Vinod Gosalkar, chairman of Mhada repair and redevelopment board, said, “The priority is to ensure that all residents get temporary shelter in our transit camps. There are allegations that the restaurant owner had undertaken repair works due to which the structure collapsed, and hence even that angle will be investigated. The landlord will also be booked, if we find any lapses. We have now appointed an architect who will prepare a report on whether the building should be repaired or redeveloped. Talks were going on with a developer, but he did not have the permission to carry out the redevelopment.’’

Last week, two people were killed and one person was injured after part of a ground-plus-two structure—another cessed building -- collapsed in Nagpada in Byculla. It was given permission to redevelop, however, the developer failed to start the process. The Mumbai Police booked the developer.

“A major accident was averted,’’ said mayor Kishori Pednekar, who visited the site.

Local Congress leader Javed Juneja said, “The compound has two structures. One is a building having 12 tenants, and the other structure is a chawl. Both the structures are cessed structures. After the collapse of the building, the chawl was also vacated. Just like the Nagpada incident, a portion of the toilet collapsed. There are thousands of such buildings in south Mumbai, and the state should ensure no more lives are lost.”