Mumbai News: Tree Collapse on Temple Roof in Ghatkopar West Triggers Evacuation

Mumbai: A tree fell on the roof of a temple due to a landslide at Khairani Road in Ghatkopar West on Thursday. As a precautionary measure, civic officials immediately shifted around 100 people residing in the vulnerable spot to a safe place. The BMC officials, along with the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), have also inspected 26 landslide-prone areas in Bhandup and Ghatkopar. Necessary measures will be taken to avoid any untoward incident in such areas, said a civic official.

100 people shifted to Barve Nagar Municipal School No. 1

The incident occurred on Thursday morning when a huge tree fell on the roof of a temple in Pitamaha Ramaji Nagar, Bhatwadi, Ghatkopar West. The local ward office and NDRF team immediately arrived to examine the area and shifted the people residing on the steep slope. Gajanan Bellare, Assistant Municipal Commissioner of N ward, said, "We examined the area and found 25 to 30 houses in the vulnerable part of the area. So we immediately shifted around 100 people to Barve Nagar Municipal School No. 1. The people residing in landslide-prone areas have been requested to go to safer places."

Meanwhile, following the incident of a landslide in Irsalwadi, a tribal village in Khalapur, civic officials have started inspecting landslide-prone areas in Mumbai. The officials, along with NDRF, visited 15 landslide-prone areas in Ghatkopar and 10 areas in Bhandup. "We have checked the soil, dangerous trees, and overall situation in the vulnerable areas. We are also creating awareness among the residents about how they should respond and save their lives in such kinds of disasters. We will inspect other landslide-prone areas in Kurla and other places. It was pre-planned and nothing to do with the incident in Khalapur," said a senior civic official.

According to RTI information shared by activist Anil Galgali, the city has 327 landslide-prone areas, most of them in the eastern suburbs. Around 20,000 shanties are in the landslide-prone area, out of which 10,381 have been protected by constructing retaining walls. While 9,656 houses need to be shifted. During the pre-monsoon survey, the BMC found 72 areas under a highly vulnerable category with most of the spots having no proper access to machinery. It becomes difficult for the rescue teams to reach the spot on time. To overcome the problem, the BMC started deploying one team of NDRF from last year at Chembur, Bhandup, and Ghatkopar, the areas that have most of the spots prone to landslides. The BMC has also started a unique life-saving drive of training the residents living in the landslide-prone areas.

Box

From 1992 to 2023, around 310 people lost their lives and more than 300 were injured in landslide incidents.

Landslide-prone areas:

City: 41 areas, 3986 houses

Suburbs: 278 areas, 18,497 houses

Highest landslide-prone areas:

Kurla: 45

Dindoshi: 43

Jogeshwari: 28

Ghatkopar: 27

Sewri: 20

Bhandup: 10

The BMC has sent three Bobcat machines and porcelain to Khalapur. It is a sand cleaner machine which specializes in cleaning beaches, clocks as many as 500 man-hours of work in one hour.