Bhiwandi: Residents of the ill-fated building were repeatedly warned about the condition of the building, which was tagged “very dangerous”, according to Bhiwandi Nizampur City Municipal Corporation (BNCMC).The civic body said it sent a notice in 2020 directing the housing society to conduct a structural audit, followed by a reminder notice in 2022, but there was no compliance. It said it issued an evacuation notice on June 5 this year, disconnected the building’s power and water thereafter, and undertook an evacuation drive.BNCMC said hours before the tragedy struck, its officials had barred people from entering the building and stopped the illegal repair work.Residents disputed the claims, alleging that the civic administration was trying to wash its hands of the tragedy. They said they had not got any notice, that they had water and power until the crash, and that no evacuation drive was ever conducted.Ram Vilas, a tenant who lived in the building for seven years, told TOI, “We never received any notice. No one from the civic body asked us to vacate the building. Our electricity and water connections were never disconnected,” he said.Abhay Yadav, who sustained injuries in the collapse, echoed the claims. “I lived here for nearly one-and-a-half years. I was never informed about any notice, nor did the civic body ask us to vacate our rooms,” he said.Bhiwandi-Nizampur mayor Narayan Chaudhary, who was at the site during the rescue operation, defended the civic administration’s actions and blamed the tragedy on unauthorised repairs carried out after residents allegedly reoccupied the building. “We had asked residents to vacate the building, but some of them continued to stay there and began repair work without permission. Such negligence led to this.”As per BNCMC data, there are 289 buildings classified C-1 (very dangerous, unfit for occupation) and 1,439 ‘dangerous’ buildings in Bhiwandi. It plans to launch a drive to vacate the 289 buildings. “We will convene a meeting on Saturday to finalise the action to be taken against such buildings. The civic body will seek police protection to forcibly vacate all C-1 category buildings so that such a tragedy does not recur,” said Chaudhary.

Bhiwandi: Ten persons were killed and three injured after half a wing of a five-storey building tagged “very dangerous” collapsed amid illegal emergency repairs to a tilting pillar and rain late on Thursday in Bhiwandi. Locals suspected one more person was trapped under the rubble. The rescue operation was still underway.Some of the residents had gone into the building—Kohinoor Apartments in Bhandari Compound—just minutes before tragedy struck. Many of the victims were residents, others labourers working at the site and at least one was a visitor. Around 12 of the 48 flats in all were affected and 200-odd residents displaced.Residents had pooled in money and hired a contractor for the repairs without conducting a structural audit. Bhiwandi Nizampur City Municipal Corporation had not been apprised of the work. It said some of its officials had stopped the work and evacuated 11 labourers and around 40 occupants in the night, but many of them went back.The civic body said it had issued three notices since 2020 and declared the building unfit in June, directing occupants to vacate it, and disconnected water and electricity supplies. Residents claimed they had not got any notice and they had water and power until the crash.The state govt ordered an inquiry. An FIR was lodged against the contractor hired for repairs, Ashok, and building owner, Bilal Khan, under Sections 105 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) and 125 (negligent act endangering human life or personal safety of others) of BNS and relevant provisions of Maharashtra Regional and Town Planning Act for illegal construction, said DCP (zone 2), Thane, Pawan Basod.The PM announced an ex gratia of Rs 2 lakh each for the families of those killed and the CM Rs 5 lakh each.This was the third such major building collapse in Bhiwandi since 2020.Repairs to the 15-year-old building began four days earlier after residents flagged falling plaster chunks and hired a contractor on their own. The structure was not vacated during the work.Around 8pm on Thursday, residents noticed that a supporting pillar in wing B had developed a crack and was tilting, alerted the contractor and vacated the building. Workers were immediately brought in and the pillar was reinforced with iron support rods. Assuming that the structure had been stabilised, many residents went back into the building around 11.30pm. Moments later, half the wing collapsed, trapping many residents and labourers under the rubble.Over 15 hours, NDRF, fire brigade and Thane disaster response force personnel pulled out the bodies of Rakesh Paswan (25), Mukesh Paswan (30), Ashok Paswan (40), Krish Kumar (32), Ranjit Singh (45), Radheshyam Kushwaha (45), Siraj Rasul Sheikh (45), Shamim Ansari (32), Shyam Pal (40), and Santosh Pandey (42). Those injured—Abhay Yadav (26), Deepak Yadav (25) and Sangeeta Prajapati (36)—were taken to a hospital. Some residents were rescued from the portion of the wing that remained standing.An NDRF officer said the building suffered a “pancake collapse”, in which one floor falls directly onto another. “The chances of survival in such collapses are extremely low. We deployed trained sniffer dogs to locate the victims. Since many were trapped on the ground floor, our teams created an escape route by carefully digging trenches before recovering the bodies.”Disaster management minister Girish Mahajan, who visited the site, said the repairs were carried out late at night to escape scrutiny by civic officials. “Strict action will be taken against those found responsible.” He directed the authorities to ensure that all dangerous buildings in Bhiwandi are vacated and appropriate action taken against them.Mehtab Ansari, a resident, told TOI that all flat owners had contributed around Rs 10,000 each for the repairs. Another resident, Komal Arvind Gupta, alleged that the contractor’s negligence during the work damaged the pillar.Row of slum huts blocks access rdThe rescue operation was hampered by about 20 slum huts blocking the narrow road leading to the site. Seven of these were demolished to allow earthmovers to move in, while four others were damaged by falling debris from the ill-fated building. Most others were damaged by the rubble being cleared. Around 100 people living in these tenements now stand displaced. The civic body offered them temporary shelter, but they sought compensation for their losses.

Vasai: Waliv police have cracked the attempted murder of Vasai-based industrialist Mohansingh Parmar (46), arresting seven persons, including the alleged mastermind, who investigators say plotted the attack to evade repaying him Rs 32 crore and gain complete control of their company, GSM Foils.The prime accused, Sagar Bhanusali (33), is chairman of GSM Foils while Parmar is the managing director. Police said Bhanusali suffered massive financial losses after the US stock market crashed following the Iran-Israel conflict, leaving him burdened with debts running into crores. GSM Foils’ stock price on NSE closed at the 20% lower circuit at Rs 192 on Friday.In a notice to NSE, the stock exchange on which GSM Foils is listed, the company said that the incident had happened in the Naikpada area under Waliv police station. “Soon after the incident, (Parmar) received prompt medical attention… His health condition is reported to be stable and improving.”“The senior management team has taken the necessary steps to ensure continuity of the company’s operations. At present, the company’s manufacturing facilities at Vasai and Ahmedabad continue to function normally,” the company disclosed on NSE.GSM Foils is engaged in manufacturing blister foils and aluminium pharma foils for the pharmaceutical industry. In Friday’s relatively stable market, its stock price on NSE closed at the 20% lower circuit at Rs 192.According to investigators, Bhanusali had persuaded Parmar to purchase his stake in the company and received nearly Rs 32 crore. Instead of repaying the amount, though, he allegedly conspired to eliminate Parmar, believing that his death would wipe out the financial liability and enable him to take complete control of the company.The attack took place on July 24 at the company’s premises in Diamond Industrial Estate at Navjeevan in Vasai East. Two motorcycle-borne assailants intercepted Mohansingh Laxmansingh Parmar (46) and opened fire. Parmar was hit in the shoulder by the first bullet. The assailant attempted to fire a second round, but the pistol jammed. He then assaulted Parmar with the butt of the weapon before fleeing.Police investigations pointed to Bhanusali as the prime suspect. Acting on technical intelligence and local inputs, a Waliv police team, with assistance from Uttar Pradesh police special task force, tracked down and arrested Bhanusali in UP. Six other accused were subsequently arrested from different locations.Additional Commissioner of Police Sanjay Shintre said Bhanusali had invested heavily in the international stock market and suffered huge losses after the US markets declined, pushing him into severe debt. Investigators found that he hatched the murder plot to escape repaying Rs 32 crore and gain complete control of the company.Police said Bhanusali allegedly paid Rs 30 lakh to execute the contract killing, including an advance of Rs 5 lakh.The arrested accused have been identified as Sujit Devendrabhai Pandey, the alleged shooter; Manoj Mulchand Thathera, who allegedly arranged the illegal firearm from Uttar Pradesh; Gokul Omprakash Gautam, who assisted in procuring the weapon; Anup Virendra Prajapati, who conducted reconnaissance, rode the motorcycle, facilitated the assailant’s escape and attempted to destroy evidence; and Vijaykumar Prajapat Vishwakarma, who allegedly arranged the vehicle and the shooter.Police said the pistol used in the attack is yet to be traced to its source. Investigators are also probing whether the conspiracy has links to a larger financial, commercial or organised crime network. The investigation is continuing with the help of scientific, technical, digital, financial and forensic evidence.Parmar, who sustained a gunshot injury in the attack, is stable, police said.