Mumbai Building Collapse: Khar residents pick up pieces of their lives

The centre of the four-storey and 43-year-old Bohala Apartment fell apart on Tuesday, and took down with it the world of its residents. Especially so with Vidhi Dinesh Motwani, who lost her 10-year-old daughter Mahi when the stairway and hall portions of the buidling at 17th Road in Khar crashed. She was seen in the queue of residents who wanted to collect their valuables and memories, on Wednesday noon.With bandaged feet, Vidhi, in mourning for her immeasurable loss, came to Khar soon after Mahi's final rites.Rescuers had taken over three hours to retrieve her body on Tuesday.According to a family friend, when Vidhi learnt about the building being demolished fully on Wednesday, she rushed to retrieve what she could of her former life, in her shattered home. Her husband Dinesh has been advised rest by doctors.On the scene of the mishap, over 35 civic officials and fire department personnel were ready with machines to twar down portions of the building, while residents protested, seeking more time to collect at least important things like documents and valuables. They lined up and waited for their turn to rummage through the rubble.Kavita Raheja, 50, who was rescued from the building on Tuesday, stayed at the site the whole night."My 12-year-old son sustained a foot fracture. He missed his exam today. All of us from the building have had a restless night."It's true. Nobody slept. According to Sony, another resident, arrangements were made for the residents at a hotel, but they were worried that they had lost all their belongings. Ashima, a resident of Delhi, who had come to visit her cousin, is now stranded in Mumbai as all her personal effects are buried in the debris.

Giridhar Lalwani, 57, a resident of Wing B , told DNA how a cobbler who would sit across the road, in the nick of time, rushed to the rescue of his 76-year-old bedridden mother, lifted her and ran to safety.While many have started a search for other homes, a few are praying for a miracle. Most flats were inhabited by elderly citizens.While the incident has left Bohala residents and flat owners shaken, the neighbourhood has been a rock-solid support. The neighbours have offered stay and arranged for food and clothes for the hapless occupants.Residents will now have to wait for a week to get their belongings back.If the BMC authorities are to be believed, the process of razing down the blocks or buildings would take a week.Alka Kerkar, the local corporator, has stationed her self in the area. She asked officials not to raze the building in haste and allow residents to take their documents and belongings like jewellery.R A Choudhary, chief fire official, said, "We have to keep safety measures in mind and can't allow people to enter the building."A team of officials from BMC's audit committee and two residents were allowed to go inside B wing as part of the building safety audit measures.After much dilly-dallying, the authorities agreed to bulldoze the building in phases so residents could collect their valuables.The demolition drive which started at 4 :30 p.m. concluded for the day at 6:40 p.m. It will resume at 9 a.m. on Thursday.According to a senior official from BMC, repair was going on at the ground floor when the mishap took place.