Mumbai building collapse: One arrested as death toll crosses 60, several still feared trapped

[email protected] (News Network)
September 28, 2013

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Mumbai, Sep 29: The death toll in the Mazgaon building collapse has risen to 61 while 32 others are injured. As rescuers race against time to find survivors under the debris, the real picture of the tragedy is unfolding as families cope to struggle with the loss. The human tragedy of the collapse is unbearable for many.

Among those who have died is 30-year-old journalist Yogesh Anant Pawar, who worked for the Marathi daily Sakal. Originally from Jaitapur in Ratnagiri district, Yogesh had come to Mumbai to work as a journalist. While Yogesh's father's body was pulled out earlier, his body was pulled out this afternoon. Santosh Kamble, Yogesh's brother-in-law told reporters, "He used to live with his father here. His mother, his brothers and his sister have arrived from the village."

As precious hours pass away, chances of finding survivors are fading. Miraculously, even after 24 hours, some survivors were pulled out by the National Disaster Response Force or NDRF. Sachidanand Gawde, Deputy Commandant of the NDRF, said, "We are using victim locating cameras and we have used it locate him and find his exact position. We have used an airlifting bag to lift the slab he is trapped under."

The question now on everyone's mind is, could this tragedy have been averted? The building is owned by the BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation or BMC itself and was listed for major repairs by its own officers. Unfortunately, these repairs were never carried out. The Mayor of Mumbai has promised an inquiry into the delay of repairs and said that anyone found responsible will be dealt with in the strictest manner.

A decorator who had a godown on the ground floor has now been arrested and sent to police custody till Tuesday for alleged illegal alterations. He has been booked for culpable homicide not amounting to murder.

But that is hardly any compensation for those who have lost everything they had. This is the seventh building to have collapsed in the last six months in Mumbai and Thane and hundreds of lives have been lost. But the most important question is, with nearly 950 very dangerous buildings in Mumbai alone, how many more collapses will it take for authorities to act?

Earlier:

13 killed, 29 injured in Mumbai building collapse

Mumbai_building

Mumbai, Sep 28: Thirteen people including a girl-child were crushed to death and 29 sustained grievous injuries when a four-storey building housing civic employees in south Mumbai came crashing down on a rain soaked Friday.

Fire brigade officials who where engaged in clearing the debris of the 32-year-old building located along Dockyard Road, in the old Mazagon locality, fear the possibility of people trapped underneath as there were 21 families staying in the building and several families are still missing.

Apart from the injured who have been admitted to various hospitals, 20 people escaped unhurt.

Rescue operations were launched immediately at around 6 am when the first distress call was relayed to the fire brigade. Search lights and ambulances underneath heavy rain and dark skies were put into action along with dozen JCBs, cranes, mechanical diggers and bulldozers.

Apart from the Mumbai fire brigade, teams from Thane fire brigade, National Disaster Response Force were also summoned.

A team of over 100 rescuers from various agencies were still cutting through slabs late in the evening. Traffic on the congested Dockyard Road was diverted to ease the flow of emergency vehicles.

The BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) in an official communique stated that the structure housed 28 rooms on four floors of which 21 were occupied by civic employees and their families. Labourers who were carrying out repairs in the building were housed in a godown on the ground floor.

Civic engineers, during the audit of the building, had classified the structure as “extremely dilapidated” and orders were issued to vacate the building for restructuring. However, there was a delay in shifting the occupants.

Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan, along with Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, summoned an emergency meeting of the concerned departments and ordered “top priority” to the rescue operations.

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News Network
July 21,2020

Nagpur, July 21: In a shocking incident, an 11-year-old boy allegedly killed self in Maharashtra's Nagpur city after being reprimanded by his mother for buying a samosa, police said on Tuesday.

Veeru Natthu Sahu was found hanging from a ceiling fan at his home in Ganga Nagar in Gittikhadan area on Sunday night, an official said.

The deceased boy's family was struggling to make ends meet after their small business was hit because of the coronavirus-induced lockdown, he said.

The Class 7 student had taken Rs 10 from home without asking his mother and bought a samosa, which was then eaten by his elder brother, the official said.

The boy's mother scolded him for taking money without her permission and asked him to get the snack for himself, following which the distraught minor allegedly went into the kitchen and hanged himself using a saree, he said.

The Gittikhadan police have registered a case of accidental death in this regard, the official added.

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News Network
June 25,2020

Jun 25: A 16-year-old girl allegedly committed suicide at her house in east Delhi and her family members secretly buried her body, which was later exhumed for post-mortem, police said on Wednesday.

The girl, whose family hails from Jharkhand, allegedly hanged herself in a room in her house on Monday, they said.

No suicide note was recovered from the spot, police said.

Her body was exhumed on Tuesday as per the directions of the Sub Divisional Magistrate of the area. The process was carried out as her family members secretly buried her without informing the police.

The post-mortem will be conducted after Covid-19 tests, police said.

The incident took place on Monday. The reason behind her taking the extreme step is yet to be ascertained, they said.

Police said the girl lived with her mother and two siblings. The family hails from Jharkhand and are financially extremely weak. Her father died two years ago, they said.

After the father’s death, the girl's mother along with her siblings took her body to a burial ground and buried her, police said.

The police said the matter came to their notice after a neighbour alerted them about it. Following the information the body was exhumed, they said.

On questioning the girl's mother, she told police that she didn't know that one has to inform police in a suicide case, a senior police officer said.

Inquest proceedings have been initiated, police said.

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Agencies
July 17,2020

New Delhi, Jul 17: The first FIR against Volkswagen and Audi in India for installing cheat devices in their cars to misrepresent emissions has been filed in Noida.

The FIR was filed by Noida resident Aniljit Singh against the top officials of Volkswagen and Audi in India and their headquarters in Germany. These include Rahil Ansari, Brand Director, Audi India, Balbir Singh Dhillon, Head, Audi India, and Bram Schot, Chairman, Audi AG.

The FIR reviewed by media agency cites forgery, cheating and criminal conspiracy under various sections of the Indian Penal Code.

The complaint has cited the global emissions scandal where VW was found to be installing a cheat device in its cars, in the absence of which, the cars produced 10-40 times emissions beyond the permissible limits.

The complainant said that in 2018 he had purchased seven Audi cars worth crores of rupees. At the time of taking the delivery, the complainant said that he inquired if the cheat devices were installed in India and he was told by the company that they were not, as in India's emission norms were not as stringent and the country being a growing market for Audi, no such device was implanted.

The complaint said that the authorities in India observed that Audi cars' emissions for nitrogen oxide were 5-8 times the permissible limits and after the National Green Tribunal imposed a penalty of Rs 500 crore on VW, the complainant realised that he had been duped of his hard earned money.

He alleged that the accused persons had misrepresented the complainant by forging the documents and devices and caused wrongful gains to themselves and wrongful losses to the complainant. These officials had made wrong records to capture the market, with malafide intent and under a pre-planned conspiracy had induced and defrauded the complainant.

The accused persons are guilty of cheating the customers and have induced the complainant to part with hard earned money for sub-standard cars. The accused are also guilty of forging the documents on which they had sought various clearances.

The complainant has demanded that the allegations may be thoroughly investigated by a senior official.

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