BMC warned residents to leave. Seven killed as Mumbai’s Kurla hillock collapses on shanties

The deceased were identified as Mohamed Samir Ansari, 14, Sahil Husen Abdul Kazi, 19, Mohamed Arif Shaikh, 45, Manjina Arif Shaikh, 27, Mannat Arif Shaikh, 4, Aban Arif Shaikh, 2, and Vijit Ramesh Yadav, 24. Arif, Manjina, Aban and Mannat belonged to the same family, while the other victims lived in neighbouring houses.

Another person, Saddam Hussain Khan, 29, remained trapped under the debris as of 6.30 pm, with rescue operations continuing.

The BMC disaster management cell said the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), Mumbai Fire Brigade and civic teams were deployed for rescue work. However, the steep terrain made it difficult for ambulances and cranes to reach the site. Rescue personnel were forced to clear the debris manually using shovels.

Officials said more than 25 people were initially trapped. Several were pulled out by local residents before the first responders reached the site. The injured were taken to Rajawadi Hospital in Ghatkopar and Bhabha Hospital in Kurla.

According to civic officials, BMC’s local ward office had issued notices to residents in May, before the onset of the monsoon, asking them to vacate the site because of the landslide risk. The land belongs to the Mumbai suburban collector’s office.

“The land belongs to the collector, we (BMC) are only empowered to send notices asking them to evict the spot, but we don’t have the authorisation to remove the encroachers. The collector’s office will have to initiate action and being planning authority we can mobilise resources,” Avinash Dhakane, additional municipal commissioner (Eastern suburbs), told The Indian Express.

Mumbai Suburban Collector Saurabh Katiyar said the area was highly vulnerable and that residents were not permitted to live there.

“The place where the incident occurred is a highly vulnerable zone and no one is allowed to reside there. After the monsoon gets over, we will take a joint review with the BMC of all such vulnerable paces and decide on the next course of action to evict such illegal residents,” Katiyar said.

The latest incident comes despite repeated concerns being raised over the safety of settlements located along hillocks in Kurla and Ghatkopar.

In May, Shiv Sena corporator Vijayendra Shinde had raised a notice of motion in the civic house, seeking preventive measures in landslide-prone areas. He said landslides had occurred earlier at the site, though there were no fatalities.

For residents of the settlement, the first warning came from the sound of the hill giving way. Ahmed Hussain Ansari woke up around 3.30 am to the sound of people scrambling outside. Initially, he thought a fight had broken out.

“I heard a sound while I was sleeping and thought a fight had broken out. When I woke up and looked outside, there was a stampede-like situation with people shouting, ‘the hill has collapsed, run, run!’ When I came out, I saw that a hillside had indeed collapsed,” he told The Indian Express.

Saira Banu, who was rescued from under the debris, said her entire family was trapped when the hillock collapsed.

“The incident happened around 3.30 am. The hill collapsed, and we were trapped under it. The entire house collapsed on us; the whole house was destroyed. We have been living here for 30 years, but an accident like this has never happened before,” Saira Banu said. “Many people were trapped along with me, and everyone sustained injuries.”

Mayor Ritu Tawde announced financial assistance of Rs 4 lakh to the immediate next of kin of each deceased person and Rs 50,000 for each injured person.