After wall collapse in Mumbai, BMC to audit all retaining walls

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Two days after the retaining wall of a Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation reservoir collapsed, killing 26 people, civic chief Praveen Pardeshi said BMC will carry out an audit of all retaining walls located on slopes, wherever human life is involved, to avoid incidents like these.

When asked about how the Pune civic body has a special policy in place for retaining walls, Pardeshi said BMC will have to conduct a survey of all the retaining walls to draft a policy. “We can’t do an audit of all walls, because it is too big a task. We are prioritising an audit of retaining walls, wherever they are located and wherever there are people or slums located, be it on private or public land,” he said.

Pardeshi added that all the slum dwellers of Kurar Village, where the incident occurred, will be rehabilitated. “Currently, they have been given temporary accommodation in the nearby schools, but this cannot be for long. They can go to Mahul, where we are offering them houses, but many do not want to. However, it is better to go there than staying back as it is dangerous,” he said.

BMC officials said they could try not building retaining walls near reservoirs, such as the one in Malad, by installing nets or barricades, but there is always a fear of encroachment. “This is why we build retaining walls. However, it backfired in the case of the Malad wall. The retaining wall was acting as a well for stopping abrupt waterfall from the reservoir. However, it was found that the culverts were blocked by slum dwellers by dumping garbage, and the drainage holes of the wall were blocked by construction of slums,” said an official. This was the reason the water accumulated, he said. “When it exceeded its limit, the water went above the retaining wall, resulting in the collapse of the wall which was unable to bear the weight,” he said.

Meanwhile, rescue operations continued at Kurar Village on Thursday and officials said more people may be trapped under debris. A fire brigade official said, “We cannot call off rescue operations if people tell us their family members are missing. Hence, until all debris is cleared, we will not call off the operations. The work at Pimpripada is done. At Appa pada, we are taking time as we have to be cautious while using bulldozers, considering there might be people trapped under debris.”