Mumbai: 55-year-old woman dies as public toilet’s wall collapses in Kurla

A 55-year-old woman died as the wall of a public toilet in Kurla collapsed on Monday around 7am, Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC)’s disaster management cell said. The woman’s leg got stuck under the wall, and she was taken to Rajawadi Hospital around 9.30am. However, she was declared dead around 10.30am. BMC officials said the civic body will investigate who can be held responsible for the collapse.

According to BMC officials, they were undertaking work of toilet augmentation at the toilet block where the incident took place. Of the total 12 toilet seats, six were demolished last week, and the remaining six were to be demolished this week. However, residents of the surrounding area continued to use it despite the ongoing demolition work.

Manish Valanju, assistant municipal commissioner of L ward, which covers Kurla, said, “We are going to investigate why the wall collapsed and if there was negligence. However, primary information is that residents had opposed the demolition of six of the 12 toilets and continued to use it. We are investigating the issue.”

Under BMC’s 2018 project, public toilets across 24 administrative wards are being reconstructed to accommodate additional toilet seats. Also, initial reports of structural audit of nearly 1,000 public toilets across the city in 2018 had revealed that more than 50% of them are in dilapidated condition and need reconstruction, major and minor repairs.

Chirag Nimkar, a resident, said, “It is very easy for BMC to ask us to not use the toilet. But in reality, it is very difficult for us to go to a different area at times considering the distance. It is very easy to say that we should use toilets from nearby areas, but BMC should arrange mobile toilets to ensure these types of incidents are not repeated.”

Meanwhile, local BJP corporator Harish Bhandirge has demanded monetary compensation from BMC for the victim’s family. Bhandirge said, “BMC had displayed a board outside the toilet to not use it considering demolition work was scheduled for the same. However, residents continued using it. I am demanding that BMC give monetary compensation to the family of the lady whose two children are to be looked after.”