Click to play videoMumbai: Hundreds of slum dwellers looked on helplessly as giant earth movers dug through the debris of an under construction building that was to serve as a transit camp while their homes were built under a Slum Rehabilitation Scheme.
The building came crashing down at about 11:30 am on Friday morning.
“I have a pan shop nearby and was attending to my customers when the building came crashing down,” says an eyewitness, Vijay Bahadur.
Fire Brigade and police officials rushed to the spot and pulled out 22 people from under the debris, five of whom died.
“Seventeen people are injured and have been admitted to Bhagwati Hospital. Five people have died,” says DCP, Mumbai Police, Makarand Ranade.
Locals allege that they were pressurised by the builder to move into the under-construction building.
"They broke down my hut, threw out my things and forced me to live on the ground floor of this under construction building,” says a resident, Lalki Gupta.
Maharashtra Chief Minsiter Vilasrao Deshmukh has announced an ex-gratia of Rs 1 lakh to the next of those dead and Rs 10, 000 each to those injured in the incident.
However, since the dust has settled, the administration has some tough questions to answer.
How could they allow people to live in an under construction building and who is to be held responsible for these deaths?
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