Mumbai: 80-year-old dies as dilapidated building collapses at Grant Road

The second and third floors of the MHADA building collapsed partially after two days of incessant rain; the housing authority said it had warned residents to move out

An 80-year-old woman died after part of a dilapidated, century-old MHADA building collapsed near Grant Road West on Saturday morning. The building was occupied at the time of the incident. Many residents had a narrow escape, running out in the nick of time. Thirteen residents were stranded on the fourth floor and had to be extracted by the Mumbai fire brigade. 

Portions of the balcony and slabs on the second and third floor of Rubinissa Manzil came crashing down at Sleater Road around 11 am, following incessant rain for two days. MHADA had declared the four-storeyed building a dilapidated structure and had issued a notice to residents to vacate it. 

At least 50 people were inside when the first portion of the building collapsed. “Immediately, people ran outside. Another portion of the building collapsed, trapping some residents on the fourth floor,” said one of the residents. 

Rescuers extract a trapped resident from the fourth floor

The fire brigade began its rescue operation around 11.30 am. An ambulance, four fire engines, and a quick rescue vehicle were deployed. Thirteen people, including six women and one child, were extracted from the building by 1 pm. Of them, Veera Wadia, 80, was declared dead. 

Three others—Atul Shah, Nikesh Shah and Vijay Anand—were admitted to Bhatia hospital. A fourth injured, Siddhesh Paliga was admitted to the ICU at Breach Candy hospital.  

Vaishali Gadpale, chief PRO at MHADA, said, “The building is in ‘A’ category, which means it is 80 to 100 years old. MHADA had issued several notices on the matter since 2021. In May 2023, we issued a notice to the landlord to redevelop the building. Meanwhile, the structure was supported with precautionary propping. In June this year, a notice was issued to the residents to vacate the building immediately, with provisions for alternate accommodations in transit camps at Santosh Nagar, Oshiwara.” 

Resident Mandar Shinde said, “The building is 100 years old. Sixteen years ago, we members had consulted builders to take up its redevelopment. We had finalised one as well, but the landlord got in a dispute with the builder.” When asked about the notice issued by MHADA, he added, “We were aware of the notice, but since the redevelopment progress was stuck, we had nowhere to go.”

Kaushik Shah, another resident, alleged, “Around 50 workers were residing in the flat where the balcony collapsed. Furthermore, there were around 100 workers in another flat on the first floor.” Sunday mid-day reached out to the landlord, but he was unavailable for comment.

100
No. of years ago the building was constructed

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