On Thursday, the number of people who died in the building collapse at Virar in Maharashtra increased to 15, with nine others injured. The sad event was when part of Ramabai Apartments in the Narangi region of Virar East collapsed on Tuesday night. After the collapse, 24 people were rescued by the Vasai-Virar Municipal Corporation fire brigade with the help of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) amid rubble by Wednesday night.
On Wednesday, Nittal Sane, a 47-year-old builder of Ramabai Apartments, was arrested on charges of Section 105 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) of Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita (BNS) and corresponding acts of Maharashtra. It was found that the building, which was finished in 2011, was declared unsafe by the Vasai-Virar City Municipal Corporation in May. But preventive measure was not taken, and residents were exposed.
District Magistrate Indurani Jakhar was on the spot and assured that the rescue was underway. She said the revenue department, police, municipal corporation teams and NDRF work around the clock to clear the debris and to make sure that no survivors are found. The exercise of clearing the debris of people is being done at an alarming rate under the guidance of the National Disaster Response Force, Jakhar said.
The dead included the members of the Jovil family when their one-year-old daughter was having her first birthday, and the tragedy happened. The girl, Utkarsha, the mother, Arohi and the father, Omkar Jovil, were all found dead, but the rest, the father was found missing.
The high population density and the narrow lanes are frustrating the rescue exercise, as heavy machinery such as JCBs cannot freely access the area. Fire brigade officers underlined that in the face of all these difficulties, continuous attempts are being made 24 hours a day to find people in the rubble and deliver aid to the fallen families.
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