Mumbai, May 29: Two women sustained injuries after a slab collapsed in a five-storey residential building in Mumbai’s Byculla area on Wednesday, raising fresh alarms about the safety of aging buildings in the region. The incident took place in the Emarta locality of South Mumbai, prompting an immediate response from the Mumbai Fire Brigade and Agripada police.
Both injured victims were rushed to Nair Hospital, a civic-run facility, and are currently receiving treatment. The Mumbai Fire Department has launched an investigation to determine the cause of the collapse.
The incident came just a day after a similar scare in Thane, where a portion of the Nandadeep building—a decades-old structure located in Kisan Nagar, Wagle Estate—partially collapsed around 2:25 am. Fortunately, no injuries were reported in that incident, but the collapse of the third-floor roof and stair gallery led to the evacuation of 17 families.
Authorities had earlier categorized the Thane structure as C2B, marking it structurally unsafe during a safety audit. Emergency personnel swiftly relocated all residents to safer accommodations, and nearby buildings were also temporarily evacuated as a precautionary measure.
Speaking on the Thane collapse, Yasin Tadvi, head of the Thane Municipal Corporation’s Disaster Management Cell, stressed the urgent need for preventive action on buildings marked unsafe, especially with the monsoon season approaching.
These back-to-back incidents have reignited concerns over the growing number of deteriorating buildings across the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR). According to civic data, Thane alone has 4,407 buildings listed as dangerous, with Mumbra accounting for the highest share at 1,343 structures.
Authorities have once again appealed to residents living in high-risk buildings to cooperate with safety, relocation, and evacuation efforts, warning that further delays could prove fatal during heavy rains.
