Portion of galleries on two floors of 'dangerous' building collapses in Thane; no one hurt

Thane, Jul 9 (PTI) A portion of the galleries on the second and third floors of a residential building "unfit for human habitation and marked for immediate demolition" collapsed in the busy Jambhli Naka area of Thane city on Thursday morning, a civic official said. No injuries were reported in the incident, which occurred at Laxmi Apartment, a three-storey structure located near Mahavir Shop along Mohammad Ali Road, Yasin Tadvi, Chief of Regional Disaster Management Cell (RDMC) of Thane Municipal Corporation (TMC), told PTI. The building had already been officially declared as a 'C-1' category structure, which classifies it as entirely unfit for human habitation and marked for immediate demolition, Tadvi said. "The disaster management cell received an emergency call regarding the collapse at 11:48 am. The building is approximately 45 years old. Portions of the galleries on the second and third floors collapsed, leaving the remaining structure in an extremely precarious and dangerous condition," he said. Following the input, a team of emergency responders, including personnel from the RDMC with a utility vehicle, Thane Disaster Response Force (TDRF) jawans, fire brigade personnel with a fire tender, and local police, rushed to the spot. "As a precautionary measure and due to the unstable state of the remaining structure, the entire building was immediately evacuated. RDMC personnel and fire brigade jawans have secured the area by cordoning it off with safety tapes," Tadvi added. According to civic data, the building comprises four shops on the ground floor, all owned by Velji Karsan Kariya. The first floor houses a room owned by Jayesh Mansukhlal Shah, while the rooms on the second and third floors belong to Chintamani Sawant and Kamlesh Tejaswi Karotra, respectively. Further action regarding the structure will be carried out by Naupada-Kopri Ward Committee and Public Works Department (PWD) of the civic body, officials said. Former deputy mayor Krishna Patil, group leader Pawan Kadam, and former corporator Namrata Koli, were among those who visited the site. PTI COR BNM