Cops book contractor who oversaw renovation work

The Mumbai police has held a contractor as negligent in causing the collapse of a building that was undergoing renovation in Kamathipura area of Grant Road, in which six persons were killed. Nagpada Police has registered an FIR against the said contractor who was overseeing the repair work of the structure.

On Saturday, a four-storey building in Lane number 14 of Kamathipura collapsed, killing six people and injuring two. While some of the victims were residents, most of them were labourers working in the building. Some of the people who had a close shave with death were workers and customers at a bar and a paan shop housed in the building.

The deceased have been identified as Jabaz Mulla (30), Sarful Mulla (28), Angad Choube (45) and Wasim Vistan Mullah Khan (14), who were declared dead at JJ Hospital. Some of the deceased were not identified and were declared dead at Nair Hospital.

The contractor, identified, as Mohan Shinde, allegedly owns Mohan P Shinde Construction Company and was awarded the contract to undertake the renovation work of the 100-year-old building. Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (MHADA) sources confirmed that Mr Shinde had been awarded the contract and was to complete the renovation work of the building in some time. “He had been awarded the contract under the MLA/MLC funds and a total cost of Rs three lakh was assigned to the project,” said D. Pandey, deputy chief engineer, Mhada.

Police sources alleged that Shinde was overseeing the work on one more project in the area but stopped the same after the reported building collapse. But Sanjay Jadhav, executive engineer, Mhada, stated that Shinde was given a No-Objection Certificate for only the said building in Lane number 14 of Kamathipura.

While no arrests have been made, the Nagpada police officials say they are still investigating and waiting for the enquiry reports from the Mhada and the BMC.