Virar tragedy: 17 dead in building crash; how illegal construction turned homes into death traps

VASAI: Seventeen people, including six women and three children, were killed and nine injured after the rear wing of a 13-year-old, five-storey unauthorised building collapsed in Virar (E) around Tuesday midnight- an indication of rampant illegal constructions over years in the Vasai-Virar belt.

The victims included a one-year-old girl, whose birthday party had just ended.Ramabai Apartment in Vijay Nagar has around 50 flats and half a dozen shops. The rear side of the building, comprising around 12 flats, collapsed, trapping 25 people. The debris fell on one side of an 8-room chawl but none from the chawl was injured. The search and rescue operations, which started within hours, continued till Thursday afternoon.

Additional commissioner of Vasai-Virar municipal corporation, Sanjay Herwade, who visited the spot said prima facie the construction material used was of an inferior quality and urged other residents who have received notices to vacate- a resident said the developer did not share any such notice. All affected families have been put up in a shelter. Officials said the residents, most of them blue collar workers, believed the building was legal as they were paying taxes.

"Most of these deals were based on notarised documents," an official said.Police have booked the developer, Nittal Gopinath Sane (47), owner of Sai Dutta Builders and Developers, for culpable homicide and were questioning him till the time of going to press.

‘A part of staircase collapsed week before Virar building portion crash’

Just around Tuesday midnight, the rear side of Ramabai Apartment, located in the C-Ward of Vasai-Virar City Municipal Corporation at Vijay Nagar, Virar East, collapsed.

The debris also fell on one side of an 8-room chawl built near its base but no one from the chawl was injured. The chawl along with another three-storey building was evacuated as only a lane separated these two from the collapsed Ramabai Apartment.Police have booked the builder, Nittal Gopinath Sane (47), owner of Sai Dutta Builders and Developers, under provisions of the Maharashtra Regional and Town Planning (MRTP) Act, 1966, and BNS Section 105 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder).The office of chief minister Devendra Fadnavis has announced Rs 5 lakh as compensation for the families of those who died. Fadnavis said Virar has a history of issues of illegal, old and dilapidated buildings and poor infrastructure. “We have started taking action as can be seen from the recent Enforcement Directorate (ED) raids. We are addressing these issues,” he said.After 41 illegal buildings were demolished in Vasai based on the orders of the court, earlier this month, ED had arrested VVCMC commissioner Anil Pawar, an IAS officer, among others, who ED claimed was part of an alleged cartel of civic officers, architects, chartered accountants and intermediaries, which set in motion the large-scale illegal constructions in the region.A social worker alleged that last week a portion of a staircase had collapsed and he had informed the developer the building might collapse but this was ignored. He also claimed this building had till now received three notices but the developer ignored those too.The locals were the first to reach the spot and begin the rescue work. They were later joined by the fire brigade, NDRF and the police. The rescue operation was called off around 2pm Thursday after the last body was pulled out.

VVCMC has decided to demolish the remaining portion of the building to avoid any damage to adjacent buildings.The rescue operation was hampered since there was no proper access to bring in heavy machinery. It was only post afternoon Wednesday that the chawl was razed to make way for the machinery. Occupants of the adjoining three-storey building were also evacuated as the use of machinery could hamper its stability.One resident said the developer did not share notices from VVCMC. He said they were trying for redevelopment and even hired a lawyer but the landowner and the developer did not cooperate. Tukaram Shinde, a resident, said the developer did receive notices from VVCMC regarding its dilapidated status.Vacate buildings issued notices: VVCMC officialWhile announcing the completion of the search and rescue operation in the Virar building collapse, VVCMC additional commissioner Sanjay Herwade said prima facie the construction material used was poor and appealed to residents of other dilapidated buildings who have received notices to vacate them and not take any risk.Meanwhile, Anil Chavan, deputy district president (Palghar) of Shiv Sena and a lawyer, said he will write to both the VVCMC commissioner and the MBVV police commissioner to file cases under stringent sections against erring developers so that their properties can be seized and the proceeds distributed among cheated buyers.