Officials were to prepare account by May 3, but it is not ready yet
Officials were to prepare account by May 3, but it is not ready yet
Ten days after the collapse of 100-year-old Gulmohar building in Kamathipura, the Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (Mhada) is unaware of the primary cause behind the building’s collapse.
Mhada had ordered probe into the collapse and asked officials to prepare a report to identify the primary cause of the project. The report was supposed to be prepared by May 3, 2016, which is not ready yet.
According to Mhada officials, they are not able to prepare the report due the residents of the buildings adjacent to the collapsed buildings are not cooperating with the officials.
Six people were killed and two grievously injured when a three-storey building collapsed in Kamathipura of Grant Road on April 30.
“We will come out with the report by this week and there some local problems due to which the report is not out yet,” said Sumant Bhange, chief executive officer, Mhada repair and redevelopment board.
The staff crunch that Mhada is currently facing may also be responsible for the delay in preparing the report, claimed sources.
It was found recently that only seven engineers are involved in carrying out a pre-monsoon survey every year of around 16,000 cessed buildings in South Mumbai.
The Mhada had, however, initially blamed the BMC’s road excavation work as the reason for the collapse. But BMC officials from the E-ward has said that it had communicated to the Mhada that the Gulmohar building was in a bad shape and requires repair works, an advice that Mhada allegedly did not pay heed to. Meanwhile, the Sanjay Jadhav, executive engineer, Mhada, has denied receiving any such communication from the BMC.
Every year, the Mhada’s Mumbai Building Repairs and Reconstruction Board, in collaboration with the BMC, carries out a pre-monsoon survey, of 16,000 old buildings in South Mumbai and lists the dilapidated structures among them that are dangerous.
