A human tragedy but who is responsible

A horrific incident at Hanuman Tekdi in Bhiwandi shocked the people of Mumbai on July 31, 2016. Five persons were killed and ten others injured when a dilapidated building collapsed in Bhiwandi amid heavy rains. The building was already labeled as “dangerous to live” among other buildings. Some of them were trapped in the debris despite the rescue operation. The National Disaster Response Force and the firefighting officials rushed to the spot to help people come out of the situation. The locals claimed that the municipal corporation had already declared the building unfit, but the families were adamant to live there after several warnings. The rescue operation was hampered by the torrential rains that continue to lash the entire coastal Maharashtra. Thane Guardian Minister said that the affected people will be given remuneration and will be shifted to the transit camps. However, when the Realty Plus Correspondent spoke with the people, there were no improvements on ground level. The residents had either left to find shelter at relative’s place or were spending nights under open sky, the plight of children during monsoon wasappalling and the whole scenario at the site was pathetic as the residents were unable to find a place for their families and they were complaining about the ignorance of the corporation for the alternative places. After a series of building collapse at Bhiwandi, the BhiwandiNizampur Municipal Corporation has started demolishing all those buildings which falls in the dangerous category. The residents were asked to leave those buildings for the time being. Some of the families left the building when they were served notice to vacate the same. The residents were particularly upset with the fact that the demolition exercise was being conducted in the middle of the monsoon with no interim accommodation arranged for the residents. There are 17 buildings in the area which are being tagged as unfit for living. The homeless families were just waiting for the corporation’s response to their allocation. Realty Plus Correspondent when visited the site after five days witnessed that the residents were still looking out for solutions. They complained about the negligence shown by officials while demolishing the buildings. When asked one of the neighbor about the whole situation, he informed, “We are in a complete shock to see the homes being demolished and the workers throwing utensils and other furniture out of the building. The BhiwandiNizampur Municipal Corporation has not yet made any announcement about our rehabilitation.” What was seen in Bhiwandi, can be predicted in the near future for other such parts of Mumbai as well.  The question over the rehabilitation for the homeless people remains unanswered.The municipal commissioner, E. Ravindran, when contacted did not revert to any calls of Realty Plus. The other government officials were also reluctant to speak clearly about the whole scenario in Bhiwandi. What can be understood from the ground report at Bhiwandi is that the homeless families are the ultimate sufferers of what we call as the negligence of civic authorities as well as non-rehabilitation of these members can be termed as a grave problem. A Realty Plus Report: Shubham Singh