19 dead in Maha building collapse; CM announces 5 lakh ex gratia

KURLA: The death toll in the Kurla building collapse rose to 19 on Tuesday evening. Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray announced a compensation of Rs 5 lakhs each to the families of those who died in the incident.

Earlier, rebel Shiv Sena MLA Mangesh Kudalkar expressed his grief over the loss of lives in the incident and announced that the family of the deceased will be given Rs 5 lakh each while the injured will get one lakh.

"Rs 5 lakhs to the kin of those who lost their lives in the Mumbai accident, along with Rs 1 lakh to the injured," Kudalkar said in a tweet.

The four-storeyed building collapsed in Mumbai's Kurla late on Monday night. The incident took place in the Naik Nagar area.

Meanwhile, Shiv Sena MLA Sanjay Potnis said, "In 2016, the building was listed under the C1 category. Later, following an audit, it was reclassified under C2. It should have been repaired, but it wasn't. I, however, don't think there has been negligence on part of BMC."

Earlier, Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) Additional Commissioner Ashwini Bhide said the collapsed building was dilapidated, since 2013, notices had been first given for its repair, and then for its demolition.

On Monday night, Minister Aaditya Thackeray visited Kurla where the building collapsed and said that such property should be vacated on the notice of Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC).

"Whenever BMC issues notices, (buildings) should be vacated themselves...otherwise, such incidents happen, which is unfortunate...It's now important to take action on this," Thackeray said.