Mumbai, Aug 12: Seven people were killed after a landslide struck a row tenement located near a hillock in Mumbai’s suburban Sakinaka area in the early hours of Wednesday following heavy rains.
The deceased included three children in the age group of two to 14 years, while seven injured persons were undergoing treatment in civic-run hospitals.
With two more persons feared trapped under the debris, the search and rescue operations continued late in the evening, Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) officials said.
The landslide hit three shanties in Gaushiya Chawl in Ashok Nagar locality of Chirag Nagar at 3.48 am, civic officials said. The area is close to the suburbs of Kurla and Ghatkopar.
Soil and boulders from the adjoining hillock fell on the shanties, officials said, adding that seven persons were declared brought dead at the civic-run Rajawadi Hospital.
A 40-member team of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), along with 50 workers deployed by the L-Ward of the BMC and Fire Brigade teams, were engaged in the rescue operation, officials said.
The BMC has made arrangements for temporary accommodation for the residents of the chawl at the municipal Hindi School in Kajupada and Mohili School on the Andheri-Ghatkopar Link Road.
The deceased were identified as Mohammad Samir Ansari (14), Sahil Husen Abdul Kazi (19), an unidentified person aged around 45, Aban Arif Shaikh (2), Manat Arif Shaikh (4), Marjina Arif Shaikh (27) and Viket Ramesh Yadav (27).
Farana Dilber Khan (28), Dilber Amnulla Khan (38), Shamin Muslim Khan (26), Sohel Ansari (18), Mohammad Ansari (14), Naimuddhin Eqbal Khan (28) and Sajid Ansari (16) were injured and undergoing treatment.
As the access to the site was very narrow, the rescue operation became challenging, an official said, adding that only one person could pass through at a time and it was difficult to deploy heavy machinery.
Mumbai Mayor Ritu Tawde visited the spot to supervise the rescue operation and also met the affected families and offered them support. She announced immediate financial assistance of Rs 4 lakh to the next of kin of each deceased and Rs 50,000 towards the medical treatment of each injured person.
The BMC said it regularly alerts people and advises them to relocate from areas prone to landslides or rockfalls. Notices are also issued as part of pre-monsoon precautionary measures.
The civic administration had issued such warnings and conducted awareness drives for residents in the area around Tekdi (hillock) No 3 in Ashok Nagar, it said.
Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde said the government stands firmly behind the affected families. Rescue and relief operations were going on on a war footing, he said in a statement, adding that safe housing is a right of every citizen.
Mumbai Congress chief and MP Varsha Gaikwad said the landslide was not an accident but the result of the negligence of the BMC in carrying out pre-monsoon preventive measures. (PTI)
