Thane building collapse: Rescue operations over; 73 dead

Thane: More than forty hours after an illegal seven-storey building collapsed in Thane, the rescue operations have finally ended. The tragedy led to 73 deaths; 62 have been injured.

There have been some miracle survivors too. Yesterday, a 10-month-old baby and a four-year-child were pulled out of the rubble several hours after the building collapsed. (Read)

Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan has confirmed that the building was illegal and ordered an inquiry to determine why local officials did not spot the construction and stop it. The Deputy Municipal Commissioner and a senior cop from the local police station have been suspended. The two builders responsible for the most recent disaster have gone underground. The police have filed a case against them of culpable homicide not amounting to murder. (Watch: Who is responsible?)

The victims of the tragedy were mostly poor daily wagers working at the construction site and their families. (Read: Imran, who lost 13 family members)

Seven storeys came up in just six weeks, with sub-standard material. An eighth was under construction when the building caved in on itself. Homes, offices and shops had been set up within the building without an occupancy certificate.

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"Ninety per cent of buildings in Mumbra are illegal," Thane Municipal Commissioner RA Rajeev told NDTV.

A local resident named Mangal Patil had complained thrice since February about the building and even submitted photographs to the Thane Municipal Corporation, which is controlled by the Shiv Sena. He sent copies to the Chief Minister's office, but says no one responded.

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The Shiv Sena has passed the blame onto the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), saying its local MLA should have complained about the illegal building. NCP leaders counter that Thane has many illegal buildings and ask how the Sena-controlled civic body allowed these to come up.

In 2010, the government admitted that there were as many as five lakh illegal buildings in Thane. Three years later, just 11,000 have been demolished, a sign of the nexus between politicians, bureaucrats and builders.