Maharashtra: Roof of building collapses in Solapur; at least 20 feared trapped

Mumbai, July 31: Over 20 people are feared trapped and 10 others have been evacuated after the roof of the building that houses Bank of Maharashtra's branch in Solapur collapsed.

This was the latest addition in the list of such tragedies in the Mumbai metropolitan area which is replete with tales of sheer negligence and apathy by authorities tasked with overseeing development and maintenance of buildings and infrastructure assets.

The incident comes days after 13 people lost their lives in a building collapse in Mumbai's congested Dongri locality.

It had once again put the focus on Mumbai's stressed infrastructure with experts and realtors calling for strict enforcement of safety norms and regular audits to avoid such tragedies in the future.

Every year, the financial capital sees instances of building collapse, foot overbridge accidents and other life-threatening but preventable incidents.

The situation gets aggravated during the monsoon.

Earlier this month, the city witnessed instances of wall collapse caused by the worst monsoon rains in a single day in 14 years, killing over 20 people.

Mumbai had received a record-breaking 400 mm of rainfall on the night of July 1, disrupting rail, road and air traffic and prompting officials to shut schools the next day.

In another incident, three people died when a school wall collapsed in Kalyan, 42km north of Mumbai.

Besides, around 200 metres of an internal road in the area caved in, forcing 100 families to vacate two residential buildings.