Krishnaraj Rao for BeyondHeadlines
Mumbai: Dilapidated buildings along the railway tracks near Masjid Bunder and Sandhurst Road railway stations are endangering railway commuters, alleged activist Sulaiman Bhimani, in a complaint letter written today to various authorities including the Union minister for Railways, Chief Minister, Municipal Commissioner and others. He attached photos that indicated the precarious condition of the buildings, with several unauthorized and structures that threatened to fall down onto the railway tracks running only a few feet away.
“In particular, a cluster of buildings at and near 25B Keshavji Naik Road, has unauthorized cantilevered construction on the top floor and illegal extension and additions and alterations at ground floor level. Also, the stone wall supporting the slope on the side of Sandhurst Road station is cracked and in danger of collapse. This may result in a landslide on the tracks,” alleged Bhimani in his letter.
He appealed to the authorities to “do whatever is necessary to avoid the chaos and destruction that may be caused by building collapse or landslide on a running train during peak hours”.
One wonders why the civic and railway authorities are passively tolerating the continuance of dangerous buildings and passively waiting for further disasters to happen. In the context of recent building collapses of Mumbra and Dockyard Road, which are still fresh in the mind of Mumbai citizens, this seems like criminal negligence on the part of the authorities.
Bhimani, who is an interior designer by profession, has a keen eye for unauthorized alterations and dangerous structures endangering the life and safety of citizens. This is not the first time that he has pointed out dangerous structures to the civic authorities, and campaigned for their demolition.
