Chembur residents fear damage to building

Resident of Union Park in Chembur, Omprakash Arora, 71, woke up by a loud ‘explosion-like’ sound on Tuesday at around 4 am.

Resident of Union Park in Chembur, Omprakash Arora, 71, woke up by a loud ‘explosion-like’ sound on Tuesday at around 4 am.

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A scared Arora rushed downstairs only to find out that his building’s compound wall had tilted and there were cracks in it. A railing erected in an adjoining plot to separate the two plots had collapsed, damaging the compound wall.

Residents now fear that their building’s foundation may have also been weakened by the construction and digging work happening in the adjoining plot.

“Since the last couple of months, our windowpanes have been constantly vibrating as the developer next door has started digging to lay foundation for his project. In clear violations of civic rules, there isn’t even half a foot gap between the digging work and the common wall that separates us,” said Arora.

Another resident of the two-storied building said, “We have warned them to keep a distance of 5 ft from the common wall so that the effect of the foundation digging is minimised. Their policy is that we’ll fix whatever is broken and take no preventive measures otherwise.”

The BMC, meanwhile, said it would carry out inspections.