Mumbaikars must ask what govt is doing: Milind Deora on Dongri building collapse

Congress leader Milind Deora on Tuesday termed the building collapse in Dongri "unfortunate" and urged citizens to question the government as to why such incidents keep happening year after year.

"This is, unfortunately, something that happens in Mumbai every year during monsoon. You'll see wall collapses, there are potholes on roads where people die, young boys fall into manholes. Mumbaikars must ask what is the government is doing and who is in charge of Mumbai," Deora told ANI here.

The death toll in the building collapse reached five in the evening while more than eight people have been injured in the incident.

Deora visited the site where more than 40 people are still feared to be trapped under debris.

He talked to the people and also urged Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis to carry out a review of the Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (MHADA) and Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC).

He raised questions on why the building was not evacuated if it was deemed unfit for living in. which made it unfit for living. "If that is the case then the officers in charge of evacuating the people need to be punished. Because tomorrow if BMC and MHADA declare a building unsafe it then becomes the officer's job to evacuate them with the help of the police," he said.

Deora termed the building collapse a result of "bureaucratic and administrative negligence" as no review meeting of the BMC and MHADA was chaired by the chief minister before the monsoons.

"I believe this is an example of bureaucratic and administrative negligence. Before every monsoon, the chief minister, regardless of the party A or B, calls a review meeting of these old buildings, they call agencies like MHADA and BMC and ask residents of buildings which are at risk to move out. This has not happened this year, why is it so?" Deora questioned.

The four-storey building in Dongri area had collapsed at around 11 am today where NDRF and fire brigade teams are carrying out rescue and relief operations.

BMC has claimed that it had classified the building in the "C1 category" back in 2017. The classification means the building was meant "to be evacuated for demolition at the earliest".

Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has ordered an investigation into the matter.