Vikhroli slab collapse: Kin of victims allege MHADA delayed redevelopment

The dilapidated Guru Kripa building. Pics/Rajesh Gupta

The families of the two septuagenarians killed due to the slab collapse in Vikhroli East on Thursday evening have alleged that MHADA had delayed the process of issuing an NOC for redevelopment of the building, despite it being in urgent need of repair. The incident occurred around 6.30 pm at the Guru Kripa CHS building in Vikroli's Kannamvar Nagar area.

"The documents were rotting with MHADA for 3-4 months. If they had issued the NOC on time, this mishap would not have occurred," said the daughter of Suryakant Madhalkar who was killed in the mishap.

Sharad Masal and Suryakant Madhalkar

The police said the authorities rescued Suryakant, 78, and Sharad Masal, 75, but they were declared brought dead at Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar Hospital.
According to a resident, the three-storey structure is in a dilapidated condition. "We are 14 buildings and together approached Diwan developers to redevelop the buildings. However, the redevelopment did not take place and so only residents of the Guru Kripa building had approached MHADA for an NOC." said the resident on condition of anonymity.

According to Madhalkar's daughter, the building's secretary had informed her that a slab had collapsed on her father after which she rushed to the hospital. "But when I reached there, the authorities told me that he had died."

"It's a 60-year-old building and it was not in a good condition. My father had various health ailments but wanted to stay alone. We had approached MHADA and they had delayed the process of issuing an NOC for redevelopment. The society members used to visit the office and officials would claim that the file was transferred to some other department," she added.

According to Sheetal Misal, they had heard a loud sound when the slab collapsed. "My parents were living in the society. We heard a loud sound at 6.30 pm and there was dust all over the building. My mother was standing outside their residence and banging on the door and my father who was paralysed was inside. With the help of authorities, we broke open the door and found my father trapped under the rubble. We were living here on a rental agreement and were going to shift to Airoli. Last year we had received a notice that that building was not fit to live in. However, MHADA gave an extension to stay here," she said.

Refuting the allegations, MHADA's PRO Vaishali Gadpale told mid-day: "We had provided a notice to the residents last year and informed them that the building is depleted and is not fit to live in. People had started to leave the building. The NOC was given after due process."

At present, there are 12 families from the building who have been allocated flats at a transit camp in Kannamvar Nagar.

"MHADA had issued two notices to building and people had started to shift elsewhere. We will register an FIR after scrutinising the documents of the building," said an officer.