Mahim building collapse: How profit-making builders led to several deaths

It is the same tale of indifference and apathy told over and over again.

The five-storey Altaf Manzil building, which is located near the famous Mahim dargah or shrine on Cadell Road in central Mumbai, collapsed on Monday night, a day after heavy monsoon rains lashed the city. Till this report was being written, the authorities have confirmed that seven people have died and five people have been injured. The injured have been shifted to the Bhabha Hospital in suburban Bandra, KEM and at the Sion Hospital (Lokmanya Tilak Rugnalaya).

“Till now seven people have been found dead and the other five recovered have been sent to the hospitals. From morning onwards two people have been recovered dead," said Mahendra Singh, a member of the National Disaster Relief Force (NDRF) who have been called from Talegaon near Pune. The National Disaster Relief Force, a specialised and trained disaster management force, have been deployed since midnight.

According to Mahendra, the rescue operations are far from over and many more people are feared to be trapped in the debris. He said, “Right now we have dismantled the front facade of the building with the help of the Fire Brigade. The gas pipelines under the building have also been dismantled. Once the debris is cleared we hope to recover more bodies from the building.”

Iqbal Gandhi, 55, who lived in the top floor of the building is one of the few people who have lived to tell the tale. Speaking to Firstpost, he said, “I was in my office when I got a call that the building had collapsed. My wife, mother-in-law and the maid were at home.” Though his wife survived with minor injuries, his mother-in-law and the maid were not that lucky. They died even before they could be taken to the hospital.

The Altaf Manzil building, that stands next to several other old buildings, was built in 1984, informed Gandhi. He said, “We were very aware that the condition of the building was not good. However, when I raised the issue of repair and renovation, no one gave me moral and financial support.” One cannot recollect the last time the building had received a coat of paint or had been strengthened, he added.

The building belonged to the builder for about ten years after which the tenants had bought the flats from the original owners, he said. “We had no clue about the car showroom that had come up in the ground floor of the building. The car showroom had made structural changes to the basement by removing several pillars. This is what probably caused the disaster.”

However, locals allege that a few builders were hand-in-glove with the car showroom owner who ensured that the building’s original plan could be changed to remove the pillars from the ground floor. If that were not done, today’s disaster could have been probably averted.

One of the locals, Iqbal Ahmed, who had been helping with the rescue operations since yesterday, said, “There was a furniture store in the basement. The car showroom is about five years old.” When he arrived after hearing a thundering noise, all he could see is that a section of the building that housed the lift, staircase, bathrooms and the kitchen had collapsed. “We had started our rescue operation then itself. We have recovered at least five bodies after which the Fire Services Department took over,” he added.

According to reports , keeping the condition of the building in sight, the BMC had already served an evacuation notice to the residents. Evidently, they didn’t bother to follow it up. One can’t help but wonder, if it will require another Mumbra or Mahim building collapse to shake the BMC off its slumber?