28 dead, probe ordered into building collapse

The Maharashtra government on Thursday announced a judicial probe into the collapse of Laxmi Chhaya, a seven-storey building in Borivli, on Wednesday. The crash killed 28 people.

The tragedy has brought into focus the 234 buildings across the city that have been identified as dilapidated and dangerous structures in a joint survey by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation and the Indian Institute of Technology, Powai, earlier this year. Of these, 89 were in town and 145 in the suburbs, municipal sources said.

Minister of State for Urban Development Rajesh Tope told the Legislative Council that a judicial probe would be conducted into the incident. A technical committee will inquire if structural changes were made in the building.

The government has decided to make it mandatory to conduct structural audit of all buildings more than 10 years old and every five years then on, said Tope. By Thursday, the death toll reached 28 while 15 injured were being treated in several hospitals in Borivli. Of them, four were serious.