Slab collapse in under-construction Malad building kills three workers

MUMBAI: Three labourers died while three others were critically injured after the slab on which they were working, on the 20th floor of an under-construction building at Malad East collapsed on Thursday, taking them down with it. Gopal Banika Modi (32), Sohan Jachil Rotha (26) and Vinod Keshav Sadar (26) were declared dead on arrival at M W Desai Hospital, Malad, while Jalil Rahim Shaikh (45) and Rupsan Mamim (30) are in a critical condition. The sixth labourer, Mohammed Kalimuddin Shaikh (30), is in a stable condition after being transferred to Cooper Hospital.
All six are migrant workers—Sohan is from Karnataka, Vinod, Jalil and Rupsan are from West Bengal and Mohammed is from Assam. The Dindoshi police have registered an Accidental Death report (ADR) and investigations are underway to book the contractor for not taking adequate safety measures for the labourers.
According to the fire brigade and police officers, the men reported for work at 5.30 am on Thursday at the 23-storey building, which was the sale component of an SRA project at Haji Bapu Road, Govind Nagar, in Malad East.
The men were working on the 20th floor when the entire shed they were on came crashing down at 11.40 am, as per eyewitnesses, residents of the SRA building and the other labourers. “There were three layers of green net at intervals which broke the fall of two of the labourers but the other three crashed through and died on impact,” said a resident of the SRA building, who also saw a motorcycle rider and a woman escape the slab by a fraction of a second. The residents called up the police and the BMC at 12.09 pm, and the workers were rushed to hospital.
Following the incident, agitated residents gathered outside the society, blocked the road, and demanded the immediate arrest of Shivshakti Builders’ head Devendra Pandey and the supervisor. “The builder had not taken any precautions for the labourers, residents or passersby,” said a resident. “The collapse took place during the day with several people walking past the construction site, who could have lost their lives too. He should be arrested.”
“I had returned from buying groceries,” said Salim Khan, a resident of the SRA building. “The moment I sat on my couch, I heard a loud sound of something falling. I rushed down and saw that the slab of the building had collapsed on the labourers. We all rushed to help them.”
Jamaluddin, a fellow labourer who narrowly escaped falling with the others, said that he lived with his fellow workers in Mumbai. “I was at the bottom of the building when the incident happened, and I ran to the other side in the nick of time,” he said.
Jamaluddin added that Gopal had two children and a wife back home. “His family cannot travel to Mumbai to claim his body because of being short of money and the long three-day journey,” he said. “We are speaking to the police to see if they can arrange to have it sent back.”
Rahela Nakhun, wife of Mohammad Kalimuddin Sheikh, was seen with her two young children waiting to go to Cooper Hospital after her husband was shifted there. Mohammed lived with his family right next to the construction site.
“He left for his work around 6 am,” said Rahela. “I don’t know what exactly happened, but I could hear people shouting, and when I heard a resident shouting that Mohammed was trapped under the collapsed slab, I was in panic, not knowing what to do. I have three small children and he is the only breadwinner.”
Rahela added that being “mere labourers”, there was neither safety nor compensation if anything went wrong on the job. “In February this year, Mohammed fell while working at this construction site and fractured his waist, but neither the builder nor the government even asked us if we needed help,” she said. “It’s only someone’s death that gets everyone’s attention.”
Smita Patil, DCP of Zone 12, said that the police had been conducting a panchnama and recording statements of witnesses till evening. “The process of registering an FIR will be done by late night,” she said.
The Slum Rehabilitation Authority sent a to Shivshakti Builders on Thursday, directing it to stop all further construction activities on-site immediately for not taking the necessary precautions and safety measures. The builder has been asked to report the current construction stages on site to the authorities immediately.