Opposition leaders and Senate members accuse the university of neglecting infrastructure safety, call for vice-chancellor’s resignation; the sports complex had been rented out to a private association for organising sports competitions when the incident occurred
(Left) Debris from the slab that collapsed on Saturday evening; (right) the visibly damaged wall of the sports complex on Sunday
A portion of the slab inside the sports complex at Mumbai University’s Vidyanagri campus at Kalina collapsed on Saturday evening, raising serious safety concerns. Fortunately, no injuries were reported in the incident. The collapse has triggered strong criticism from the Opposition party and Mumbai University (MU) Senate members, who have accused the university of negligence in maintaining campus infrastructure.
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Accountability?
According to reports, the sports complex had been rented out to a private association for organising sports competitions when the incident occurred.
Yuva Sena Senate members Pradeep Sawant, Shashikant Zore, Mayur Panchal and former Senate member Rajan Kolambekar visited the site early Sunday morning to inspect the damage. Despite the severity of the mishap, children, players and parents were still present at the venue for a judo competition the next day.
Calls for VC’s resignation
Yuva Sena leader and MU Senate Member Pradeep Sawant said, “Despite immediately bringing this to the notice of the vice-chancellor and the registrar’s office, they did not cancel the tournament and allowed events to continue. No university official even visited the sports complex where the slab collapsed. We had previously warned the administration about the weakening of the structure. We demand that the vice-chancellor resign, taking moral responsibility.”
Taking to social media, Congress MP Varsha Gaikwad posted on X, “A slab of the indoor stadium of the physical education department of the Mumbai University's Kalina campus collapsed while an inter-collegiate level volleyball tournament's final match was going on. Fortunately, no one was injured but as is evident from the visuals, if someone had been standing right there, it would have seriously injured them. My office has contacted the university administration already regarding this. I demand that an immediate structural audit of the indoor stadium be conducted and action also be taken against the agency/contractor tasked with the maintenance of the stadium. Not just the stadium, there should be a structural audit of older buildings across campus too. We cannot take any risk with the lives of the students,” Gaikwad stated.
When contacted, Mumbai University’s registrar Prasad Karande confirmed the incident but said it wasn't a slab. “In fact, it is not a slab. The complex has a shed on it, which is intact. Some bricks have fallen down. We are working on it on priority.”
2018 incident
Recounting a past incident, Sawant said, “In December 2018, a slab collapse at Ranade Bhavan on the Mumbai University Kalina campus injured two students. We demanded reports on the actions taken by the university to inspect and audit the campus infrastructure since then. We now call for a fresh structural audit of all buildings within the Kalina campus. Or is the administration waiting for a major disaster before taking action?”
Feb 1
Day the incident happened
