Wadala Cave-In: BMC bars Dosti Realty from construction at Wadala site

Finally, a massive cave-in at Wadala's Llyod Estate followed by residents' protests have been able to convince the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) that it's time to stop the ongoing work at the adjacent under-construction site. In a relief for the locals, the civic body withheld all permissions given to Dosti Realty to carry out work at the site on Wednesday.

It wasn't easy
However, it's not something that happened easily. The notice was issued only after a group of residents of Lloyd Estate and Dosti Blossom along with Mumbai Congress president Sanjay Nirupam held a morcha at BMC's building proposal department office and put pressure on the authorities to take the decision. The BMC order dated June 27 states that all permissions given to Dosti Realty have been put on hold till the adjoining buildings are structurally restored.

Residents speak
Speaking to mid-day, Ashwin Deshmukh, a resident of Lloyd Estate said, "After the protest, Deputy Engineer of building proposal department, R S Potdar, issued a notice mentioning that all permissions for construction at the site have been put on hold till the adjoining structures are restored. This order should have been passed last year, when the residents first complained about the excavation work. Such dereliction of duty should be addressed by the higher authorities."

He further said, "Why did it take him one year to pass this order? If BMC did this last year, then the mishap could have been averted." Another resident Shreya Singh said, "Substandard materials are being used for the backfilling work. The court commissioner's directions are not being followed. On Tuesday evening, we noticed that pieces of plastic pipe, glass and thermocol were being used to fill in the portion that collapsed."

BMC speaks
R S Potdar, deputy chief engineer of building proposal department, said, "We have withheld all permissions given to the builder for the construction project at Krishna Steel plot. Also, if residents find the workers using substandard material for the backfilling work, then they can stop them. We have asked them to strictly follow the court commissioner's instructions."

When asked why no action was taken when the residents complained about the matter last year, he said, "We had taken some action at that point of time. But, as the matter was sub-judice, a lot could not be done."

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