(This piece was originally published on 25 July 2017, and is being republished from The Quint’s archives after a building collapse in Mumbai’s Dongri on 16 July 2019.)
On Tuesday, a four-storey building collapsed in Mumbai’s Ghatkopar and killed 6 people, while injuring several more.
This should come as a major blow to the BMC, which has already come under fire for the potholes which abundantly dot the city’s roads. The BMC had already identified 791 buildings in the city which were unsafe.
Collapsing buildings are sadly not a new phenomenon in Mumbai. These are the major mishaps that have happened in the city over the past decade.
2017
On 23 July, a bakery roof collapsed in SV Road on Jogeshwari (West), leaving three labourers dead.
On 21 July, a three-storey building collapsed in Dharavi, injuring all 12 male occupants. However, there were no fatalities in the incident.
2016
A cylinder explosion in Mumbai’s Mankhurd on 15 December 2016 caused three single-storey buildings to collapse. The incident left three dead and 12 injured.
A five-storey building collapsed in the suburb of Bandra on 13 October 2016, killing six children.
On the outskirts of Mumbai, on 31 July 2016, a building collapsed in Bhiwandi. Eight people died when the three-storey tower fell.
2015
A half-century old, three-storey building collapsed in Thane in August 2015, which left 12 people dead.
A two-storey building partially collapsed in Thakurli in Dombivili, killing nine people. There were 26 flats in the building, of which 16 collapsed on 29 July 2015.
2014
On 14 March 2014, in Santa Cruz’s Vakola. The building fell onto the neighbouring chawl and destroyed a substantial chunk of it.
2013
27 September 2013 saw a four-storey buidling collapse in Mazgaon, which left 60 people dead and another 30 injured.
4 April of the same year saw the Mumbra Lucky Compound in Thane collapse, killing 72 people including 11 children. The building was under construction and 50 people were rescued from the seven-storey structure.
2012
4 December saw an office building in Lower Parel collapse, which left two dead and six injured.
2011
Six people, including three minor girls, were killed in Bhayandar (East) when a three-storey building collapsed on 23 September 2011. Five people were rescued from the debris.
2010
On 8 October, a CNG cylinder exploded in Bhendi Bazaar, causing a building to collapse, killing five and injuring 26 people as a result.
2008
Twenty-one people were killed when the Datta Niwas building collapsed in Kumbharwada on 17 August. Another 26 people were injured in the mishap.
2007
The Laxmi Chhaya building in Borivali (West) collapsed on 18 July, leaving 26 people dead. Another 37 people were rescued from the debris.
1998
On 3 August, the Govind Towers at Kherwadi, Bandra (East) collapsed within 20 years of its construction, leaving 35 dead and 23 injured.
1997
Five people were killed and 28 injured on 17 September, when a section of the seven-storeyed Poonam Chambers in Worli collapsed. The cause was believed to be a ground-floor occupant who removed a load bearing column.
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