They used stairs of adjacent building

MUMBAI: For the past five months, families living in the now-collapsed Yusuf Manzil went through a strange routine to exit the building. They entered a neighbour's flat, walked through it to access a door connecting to a flat in the adjacent Khatayu Mansion building, exited that flat and then used the Khatayu Mansion staircase to reach the street. The same route was used to enter Yusuf Manzil.
The reason for this odd route was that there was no staircase in Yusuf Manzil between the ground and first floors.It had been broken by a shop to facilitate renovations in the establishment.
Vijay Padalkar, who resided on the third floor of Yusuf Manzil, had earlier built the door between Yusuf Manzil and Khatayu Mansion, so he could access a flat in Khatayu he also occupied. The two buildings, and his two flats, had a common wall. It was through that door that Vijay, 68, escaped seconds before Yusuf Manzil came crashing down. Padalkar suffered a minor injury on his right hand.
"I was sitting at my computer when I saw mud falling from the ceiling. I realised that something dangerous was about to happen, so I quickly reached the door connecting to my home in Khatayu. No sooner had I got through the door than the whole building came crashing down,'' said Vijay. Padalkar's wife and son were out of the house when the crash occurred.
Since March 24, 2009, when the Janata Electronics store owners demolished the staircase on the ground and first floors, the Padalkars' neighbours also began using the door in their flat to enter or leave the building. "As the staircase was demolished, my neighbours entered the staircase in Khatayu, entered our house there, then came to our house in Yusuf Manzil and proceed to their homes. The fourth-floor neighbours shifted to their house in Nashik to avoid disturbing us,'' said Vijay's wife Shaila.
The Padalkars also reportedly left their house keys with the neighbours when they went on vacation to Leh-Ladakh recently.
The building's residents are now temporarily staying in Dharavi. They have lost their belongings. "I had gone to enquire about the debris. I was told it was laid out behind the RTO. How is it possible for the family to search for belongings in that debris? Some people from the surrounding area alleged that the BMC truck drivers took some jewellery,'' said Vijay.