Mhada to inspect 500 buildings in Kamathipura

While there is no official announcement to halt the road work, it is likely that the repair work will be stopped for a few days, following the uproar by locals

The Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (Mhada) plans to inspect 500 buildings in Kamathipura, after a century-old building, Gulmohar, in Grant Road collapsed on Saturday, killing six.

The fire brigade department, which carried out the rescue operation, will also submit this week a report on the cause of the collapse. (Pratham Gokhale/HT)

On Sunday, Mhada officials found cracks in the building adjacent to Gulmohar, after which 25 families were shifted to a transit camp in Dharavi.

Even as Mhada blamed the crash on the road repair work by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), the civic body blamed the development agency for its failure to mark the structure as dilapidated, although the building was undergoing repair work for more than a month. As a solution, Mhada has now decided to ask the civic body to notify them before undertaking any work. If the BMC fails to issue such a notice, it will be held responsible for any such incident. “The area [Kamathipura] has many old buildings. We have started the survey and a report on it will be submitted by May 15,” said Sanjay Jadhav, executive engineer of Mhada.

While there is no official announcement to halt the road work, it is likely that the repair work will be stopped for a few days, following the uproar by locals.

The fire brigade department, which carried out the rescue operation, will also submit this week a report on the cause of the collapse. “Prima facie, it seems the structure collapsed because it was dilapidated,” said a civic official.

The two injured who were admitted to JJ and Nair hospital are in stable condition.