Mahad building crash: Residents form panel to sort belongings

A committee of the residents of Tarique Garden in Mahad has been formed so that the segregation of building debris consisting of gold documents cash and other valuables can be identified and returned to the respective owners Everything will be video recorded and the local police and revenue officials will be providing support but they will stay out of the process to avoid any allegations laterAll Tarique Garden residents met on Friday evening to decide the future course of action to help retrieve what was lost District Collector Nidhi Choudhary said We have already directed that the committee of Tarique Garden residents will be formed and they will be ensuring that the valuables and documents of concerned residents would be handed over to themmidday had on Thursday reported about the plight of several residents mostly tenants who were left without any aid unlike the flat owners The government has announced a compensation of Rs 5 lakh to the next of kin of the deceased and Rs 50000 along with hospital bill clearance for the injured However the tenants got nothing Some of them lost not just valuables but important documents like PAN and Aadhaar cardsPlaster chunks falling off a pillarHave to start from scratchSamir Pore a tenant who lost everything in the crash said We have to start from scratch now I was living as a tenant in the illfated B wing which crashed Luckily my family is aliveAnother tenant Irfan Joglikar lost over Rs 50000 in cash along with gold ornaments As the building was about we ran out and the thought of collecting any valuables didnt even cross our minds as saving our lives was the priorityLandlord took maintenance chargeSeveral tenants were paying Rs 1000 as charge for maintenance which is taken care of by the society committee however it was never formed The tenants now learnt that the money was instead being taken by land owner Yunus Shaikh Some of the residents have sought legal opinion of a Punebased lawyer who advised them to form a committee of the society members and then discuss about reconstructionMahad Municipal Council Chief Officer Jivan Patil said they provided a JCB on the request of some of the Tarique Garden residents some of whom have found their documents While some of the valuables found during the excavation work soon after the crash on August 24 was given to them We would give them whatever remains in the rubble once the segregation work begins500 dilapidated structuresTenants of Tarique Garden MahadChoudhary said that there are around 500 dilapidated structures in the Raigad district which consist of 15 Municipal Councils and Panvel Municipal Corporation We have now decided to issue notices to buildings in which cracks and damage are evident This will include those not on the list of dilapidated structures Residents would be directed to undertake necessary repair works at the earliestPatil said that they have already issued notices to 13 residential buildings in Mahad city limits stating that the structures are dilapidated On Thursday we evacuated residents 29 families of Al Kasim building a groundplus threestorey building in Mahad city The building was over 20 years old and in bad condition The residents have either shifted to new houses or returned to their villagesNo new projects this yearPatil said On an average we would get around 30plus proposals for building construction in a year but this year we have not received a single proposal for new projects Thats partly because of the COVID19 lockdown But now with the Tarique Garden mishap we are not hoping to get proposals anytime soonBuilder arrestedMeanwhile the Mangaon sessions court on Thursday rejected the anticipatory bail plea of builder Farooq Kazi and remanded him in Mahad police custody for seven days He was arrested on the court premises Police added that Tarique Garden was Kazis only projectInspector Shailesh Sanas of Mahad police station said Two others land owner Yunus Shaikh and Reinforced Cement Concrete consultant Babulal Damani who were earlier arrested have been sent to magisterial custody at Alibagh jailSanas said they are yet to arrest Mumbaibased Architect Gaurav Shah Mahad Municipal Councils former chief officer Pradeep Dhingad and engineer Sashikant DhigeSeek Mumbai police helpLocal police have approached the police stations in Mumbai where multiple building collapses have been reported in the past to understand how to investigate the matter as this is the first such case in the entire Raigad districtSanas said This is the first instance of building collapse in Raigad district and we contacted our counterparts in Mumbai to understand the nature of the probe needed the collection of evidence and about the relevant sections for the offenses committed Meanwhile forensic experts from FSL Kalina and a team from VJTI Mumbai have already examined the crash site and collected the construction materials which will be testedKeep scrolling to read more newsCatch up on all the latest 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