Mumbai: ‘Complaints to BMC and MHADA were completely ignored’

The collapse of their buildingrsquos underground water tank has forced 51 families residing in Meghdoot building at Nehru Nagar in Kurla out of their homes The incident occurred on Wednesday evening when work on the plinth of an adjoining building was on Residents claimed that despite making complaints around six months ago regarding the problems caused by the construction nearby no remedial action was initiated by the authoritiesAfter the collapse of the water tank the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation BMC evacuated the Meghdoot building as a safety measure The residents have decided to demand compensation from the builder of the adjoining building for the time they will have to spend outside their homesThe cavedin portion in front of the Meghdoot building at Nehru Nagar Kurla PicsPradeep DhivarPravina Morajkar a resident of the Meghdoot building told midday ldquoA few senior citizens from our building and I have shifted to my relativersquos place We felt vibrations in our building as the construction progressed nearby We have been raising this issue for a few months We filed a complaint with the BMC and MHADA but no action was takenrdquo A former corporator Morajkar added ldquoHad the authorities acted on our complaints we wouldnt have had to vacate our homesrdquoAfter the collapse of the water tanker the residents also submitted a complaint to the Nehru Nagar police on Wednesday evening Resident Sunil Shah who witnessed the water tankrsquos collapse said ldquoSix months ago our safety wall collapsed due to that buildingrsquos construction We saw cracks on the ground level of our building on Wednesday morning We told this to the engineers working on the adjacent site but they did not take any action Finally our water tank collapsed around 4 pmrdquoLoud crashldquoWe heard a very loud noise in the evening I couldnrsquot understand what happened Later I found out that the water tank had collapsed We came out of the building as soon as possible I live with my husband and son Yesterday we shifted to a relativersquos place in Nehru Nagarrdquo said Asha Mali Seema Pabalkar who resides with her son and bedridden motherinlaw said ldquoThe noise was horrible We were dumbstruck Our neighbours told us to come out of the building We brought my motherinlaw out in a wheelchairrdquoCompensation from builderPushparaj Dutta who resides with his wife child and another family member said ldquoWe have been facing problems ever since the construction began The work starts early in the morning and continues till midnight We are fed up with this We filed complaints with all authorities but no one is helping us I have shifted with my family to Chembur We residents met on Thursday morning and decided to demand compensation from the builder of the new construction We have no idea when we will be able to return homerdquoResident Vikas Karande who resides with eight family members said ldquoWe moved to a relativersquos place on Wednesday night but we canrsquot stay there for long We want compensation from the builderrdquo The entity undertaking the construction has been identified as Raghav During a visit by midday to the construction site the staff present refused to provide the contact of the builder or engineerStudy by RCC consultantMeanwhile the Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority MHADA has asked the builder to fill the plinth with soil as a safety precaution MHADA executive engineer P D Dhatrak told midday ldquoWe will issue a notice to the builder and demand an explanation about the incident We will also take advice from experts about the incident An expert RCC consultant will study the situation of Meghdoot building Based on the report we will decide whether the building is suitable to live inrdquo Asked about residentsrsquo claims about the lack of action Dhatrak said he would have to check the records4 pmTime on Wednesday underground tanker collapsed