Bhiwandi: Residents of the ill-fated building were repeatedly warned about the condition of the building, which was tagged “very dangerous”, according to Bhiwandi Nizampur City Municipal Corporation (BNCMC).The civic body said it sent a notice in 2020 directing the housing society to conduct a structural audit, followed by a reminder notice in 2022, but there was no compliance. It said it issued an evacuation notice on June 5 this year, disconnected the building’s power and water thereafter, and undertook an evacuation drive.BNCMC said hours before the tragedy struck, its officials had barred people from entering the building and stopped the illegal repair work.Residents disputed the claims, alleging that the civic administration was trying to wash its hands of the tragedy. They said they had not got any notice, that they had water and power until the crash, and that no evacuation drive was ever conducted.Ram Vilas, a tenant who lived in the building for seven years, told TOI, “We never received any notice. No one from the civic body asked us to vacate the building. Our electricity and water connections were never disconnected,” he said.Abhay Yadav, who sustained injuries in the collapse, echoed the claims. “I lived here for nearly one-and-a-half years. I was never informed about any notice, nor did the civic body ask us to vacate our rooms,” he said.Bhiwandi-Nizampur mayor Narayan Chaudhary, who was at the site during the rescue operation, defended the civic administration’s actions and blamed the tragedy on unauthorised repairs carried out after residents allegedly reoccupied the building. “We had asked residents to vacate the building, but some of them continued to stay there and began repair work without permission. Such negligence led to this.”As per BNCMC data, there are 289 buildings classified C-1 (very dangerous, unfit for occupation) and 1,439 ‘dangerous’ buildings in Bhiwandi. It plans to launch a drive to vacate the 289 buildings. “We will convene a meeting on Saturday to finalise the action to be taken against such buildings. The civic body will seek police protection to forcibly vacate all C-1 category buildings so that such a tragedy does not recur,” said Chaudhary.
