3945 structures have collapsed in Mumbai in six years; 300 people have lost their lives

Even as 11 people lost their lives on Thursday morning at Malad Malwani, details available through an RTI reveal that 3945 structures have collapsed in the city in six years from 2013 to 2019.

In all these incidents, 300 people have lost their lives and around 1146 people were injured. Details available through Right to Information (RTI) procured by activist Shakeel Shaikh, state that in the year 2013, 531 structures collapsed, leading to 101 deaths and 183 injuries. “Among the structures which collapsed, 90% of them have buildings, while there would be only 10% which are other structures such as walls or roofs,” said Shaikh.

Details shared by Shaikh further state that in the year 2014, there were 343 such incidents leading to 21 deaths and 100 injuries. Subsequently, there were 417 collapses, 15 deaths, and 120 injuries in the year 2015.

Shaikh added that every year around 400 to 500 buildings are categorized as C-1 structures in Mumbai, which means dangerous structures which need to be evacuated, but hardly a handful of them are demolished.

“According to a 2014 Supreme Court order, if the residents do not agree to vacate, then the BMC has the authority to cut their water and electricity supply as well. But there is little execution that takes place,” said Shaikh.

Further details from his RTI reveal that in 2016, 486 structures had collapsed leading to 24 deaths and 172 injuries. Whereas in 2017 and 2018 it was 568 and 619 accidents respectively. Whereas the highest numbers of structures collapsed in 2019 when 943 buildings had collapsed leading to 137 deaths and 579 injuries.

“This was the year when Dongri collapsed happened, which was a major incident because this was an illegal structure. Every year we see an increase in the number of illegal structures that come up across the city. Mumbai is considered a metropolis and despite that instead of making it Shanghai, BMC is allowing illegal structures to come up. These collapses take place because of these illegal structures,” said Shaikh.

Image Source- PTI