Bhiwandi Building Collapse: Bombay HC Questions State, Civic Authorities Over Dilapidated Constructions

Just four days after the Jilani Building in Maharashtra's Bhiwandi collapsed and claimed at least 38 lives, the Bombay High court has taken suo motu cognizance and has called it "a very serious incident".

A division bench of Chief Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice G S Kulkarni initiated the instructions while hearing a case related to a dilapidated building in Kalyan-Dombivali.

The Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by the Bombay High Court sought a reply from all the seven municipal corporations in the Mumbai Metropolitan region (MMR), including BMC, and the state government.

The court has directed Advocate General Ashutosh Kumbhakoni to make sure that all the parties file their replies within two weeks. The court also asked him to be present in the hearing of the case on October 15

"We have noted with utmost concern that the building (Bhiwandi) has collapsed. It is very serious. There has been substantial loss of lives. Therefore, we are initiating a suo motu PIL and making all the municipal bodies, including Mumbai, Thane, Kalyan-Dombivali, Navi Mumbai, Vasai-Virar and Bhiwandi-Nizampur municipal corporations, respondents to the PIL," Chief Justice Dipankar Datta said.

The three-storey building in Bhiwandi collapsed on September 21 and claimed at least 38 lives. The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) called off the rescue operation on Thursday morning. As per the reports 25 people were rescued by the NDRF.

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