160 of 3,500 dilapidated structures in Thane too weak to stand: TMC survey

THANE: With the monsoon barely a few weeks ahead, activists and residents have started questioning if the

Thane Municipal Corporation

(TMC) has taken any steps to prevent loss of life by building collapse during the rains.

The city has over 3,500

dilapidated

structures that need urgent repairs before the monsoon arrives with many structures already showing signs of wear and tear. As many as 28 cases of plaster collapse and related complaints along with 11 structures developing cracks have been reported to the regional disaster management cell of the TMC. In addition, around 34 calls of wall collapses from various spots in the city have been made to the cell.

In such an instance in the city, three members of a family had suffered injuries after a ceiling plaster collapsed on them in their Kismat colony tenement in Mumbra during the wee hours of Monday.

Shakila Khan, the resident of the tenement, suffered a right hand bone break after a huge chunk of plaster fell on her shoulder while a six-year-old Harshad and his sibling

Nabwat Khan

also suffered minor head injuries. Their mother, Shakila, has been shifted to Kalwa hospital.

Experts said that it was high time the TMC took action as majority buildings in the city are already two to three decades old requiring immediate repairs. A recent TMC survey revealed that around 91 structures needed evacuation and immediate repairs while around 69 were to be pulled down immediately while the rest can be repaired gradually.

Mumbra has the highest volume of such dilapidated buildings with nearly 1,400 structures classified dangerous while

Vartak Nagar

has just 29 weak structures, revealed a one-page report prepared by the TMC.

“It is surprising to note that the administration is busy taking action against hawkers when more important issues like saving lives of people living in dilapidated buildings is yet to be tackled. The cluster development that has to be implemented here on priority is still beyond bounds,” said Milind Patil, leader of opposition at the TMC.

“The TMC has to come up with a solution to the evacuation and rehabilitation of these huge number of residents before they meet with a crisis this rainy season. With barely a few weeks left for the rains, any delay could prove dangerous,” said Sanjeev Datta, activist.

A senior official from the TMC said that they were in the process of evacuating and demolishing structures that were in dangerous conditions.