10-year-old boy, father killed as canopy of under-construction building collapses

The deceased have been identified as Nagesh Ramchandra Reddy (38), who worked as a watchman at the under-construction building, and his son Rohit (10).

According to officials, Reddy was on duty on Sunday night when his son Rohit came there to deliver him dinner. Soon, as heavy rain lashed when the father-son duo sought protection under the shade of a tin-shed canopy, which was erected atop metal-angles at the construction site. However, amid heavy showers and winds, a portion of the tin-shed collapsed on the two.

Before the Mumbai Fire Brigade (MFB) could reach the site, people took the two to civic-run Rajawadi Hospital in Ghatkopar, where they were declared dead. Senior MFB officials confirmed that no other injuries were reported in the incident.

Speaking to The Indian Express, an SRA official said, “At the under-construction SRA building, the builder had erected a canopy-type structure to prevent objects from the construction site falling on people… it consisted of a tin shed roof (patra) on top of angle frames. On Sunday, the watchman and his son were standing beneath this when portions of the tin sheets came crashing on them, while the angles remained intact. Unfortunately, both of them were killed.”

Following the incident, the SRA issued a stop-work notice to the builder with immediate effect. An SRA official told The Indian Express, “We have issued a stop-work notice asking them to stop all construction work immediately. We have also written a letter to the police asking them to conduct an investigation into the matter.”

“At the building, RCC, brick and plastering work had already been completed. When we inspected the site, it was found that the building structure was intact and only the tin shed from the canopy had collapsed. Prior to the onset of monsoon, as part of our routine, a pre-monsoon precaution notice had also been issued to the builder,” said the official adding that the approval for the SRA project had been issued in February 2023.

Senior inspector of Parksite police station said that they have taken an accidental death report in the matter and no FIR has been registered. “If we find negligence on the part of anyone during the probe, necessary action will be taken,” he added.