Six Dead and Five Injured as Fourth Floor of Dilapidated Kalyan Building Caves In
Rescue operations underway as authorities investigate the incident and the building's structural integrity
Six Dead and Five Injured in Kalyan East Building Collapse
It was a tragic incident on Tuesday afternoon at Kalyan East when the fourth floor slab of the old Shri Saptashrungi building collapsed, claiming the lives of six individuals and injuring five others. The collapse occurred at approximately 1:30 pm in the four-storied building in Chiknipada, where the top floors collapsed and caused a chain reaction leading to the one after the other collapse of the third and second floors, ending with the huge pile of debris on the ground.
The structure, built in 1995, had earlier been ruled as uninhabitable by the Kalyan-Dombivli Municipal Corporation (KDMC)’s J-Ward last month. After the declaration, municipal officials directed a structural inspection of the building. The building’s unusual Z-shape with 52 flats accommodated about 20 families when the accident occurred.
The fourth-floor flat that collapsed belonged to Krishna Chaurasiya, a small businessman in the area. Chaurasiya and his family members had vacated a month earlier, shifting to an adjacent building for renovation work. When it collapsed, labourers were doing some maintenance job on the premises.
The building was rapidly demolished in a total collapse. Witnesses report the floors collapsing almost immediately, as if a “house of cards,” and entombing many of the residents under the debris. Neighbors and families, listening to the tremendous crash and screams, rushed to assist as quickly as they could, but the extent of the damage rendered rescue very hard.
After the accident, the government promptly lodged a case against Chaurasiya for culpable homicide not tantamount to murder, besides offenses under the Maharashtra Regional and Town Planning Act and the Unified Development and Promotion Regulations. The police, following a complaint by a J-Ward employee, have arrested Chaurasiya while legal proceedings are in progress.
Following the incident, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis condolated the victims’ families and said that the bereaved families would be given a compensation of ₹5 lakh.
Rescue efforts are still ongoing as emergency responders strive to rescue buried victims and determine the structural integrity of surrounding buildings. Governments have placed strong emphasis on observing safety codes strictly, particularly for buildings that are labeled unsafe, to ensure such tragic occurrences do not happen again in the future.
