Balcony collapse kills man in Mumbai, second rain-related death in 24 hours
The incident revived concerns about the lack of maintenance of cessed buildings in South Mumbai, many of which were built between the late 1800s and the 1940s.
It rained heavily in Mumbai on Tuesday morning. (Express Photo by Amit Chakravarty)
A 51-year-old man died after a part of a third-floor balcony of a residential building collapsed in South Mumbai’s Walkeshwar area late on Tuesday. This was the second monsoon-related death reported in the city in the past 24 hours, after an 11-year-old boy was killed when a tree fell on a school van.
The man, Santosh Ramachandra Bharaskar, was likely standing near the more-than-five-decade-old building on Babulnath Road in Walkeshwar when the balcony collapsed around 11.30 pm, Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation officials said.
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“The victim got initially trapped under the debris, and he was taken to the hospital immediately after that, where he was declared dead,” an official said.
The authorities said the building was a cessed building owned by the Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (MHADA).
The incident revived concerns about the lack of maintenance of cessed buildings in South Mumbai, many of which were built between the late 1800s and the 1940s. Their original timber beams, steel members, lime mortar, and masonry have deteriorated significantly over time.
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Heavy rain allows water to seep through cracked roofs and walls. This causes corrosion of steel, decay of wooden beams, and weakening of foundations. Many collapses occur during or immediately after the monsoon.
174 dilapidated buildings
According to a latest list released by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation, 174 buildings across Mumbai have been classified as C1 (dangerous and dilapidated) for the 2026 monsoon. These buildings are considered structurally unsafe and require immediate evacuation and demolition or redevelopment.
Meanwhile, besides 11-year-old Vihan Srivastav, who died later, four other students were also injured when a peepal tree collapsed over a school van at Chembur on Tuesday afternoon.
It rained heavily in Mumbai on Tuesday morning. (Express Photo by Amit Chakravarty) 
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