The Bombay High Court on Friday ordered a judicial inquiry into the collapse of a residential building in Mumbai’s Malad area on Wednesday, reported Live Law. Eleven people, including eight children, had died in the incident and seven more were injured.
A bench of Chief Justice Dipankar Datta sought a preliminary report from Mumbai’s civic body, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation, by June 24.
“At least four incidents of building collapse have taken place between May 15 and June 11, 2021, leading to death of 24 individuals and 23 injuries,” the court said, according to Bar and Bench.
The court noted that the building was built on land owned by the collector “and that there is certain dispute as to whether the BMC as planning authority could have exercised diligence and averted the building collapse....” The court then asked the collector to cooperate with the enquiry commissioner.
“He [enquiry commissioner] will also be at liberty to seek help from the relevant departments of the corporation to find probe into the issues of accountability,” the court said.
Around 11.10 pm on Wednesday, one building collapsed on an adjacent one. The incident also put a nearby three-storey building at risk. The Mumbai civic body on Thursday evacuated the residents of the three-storey building as a precautionary measure.
Reports said the building collapsed after heavy rainfall in the city during the first day of monsoon.
A case of culpable homicide not amounting to murder has been registered against the owner, identified as Rizwan Siddique, of the Malad house that collapsed.
On Monday, one person was killed and five others injured after the wall of a four-storey building collapsed on the adjoining two-storey house in Bandra.
Also read:
Mumbai: 11 dead after residential building collapses, owner booked
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