The residents of Sai Darshan society in Ghatkopar that collapsed on July 25 have settled on the Manav SRA building at Bhandup, from among the six options they had, to be their temporary home.
The other options were Shiv Vardhan SRA in Bhandup, Nathani developers’ building in Kurla, Salim Patel’s and SRA building at Keluskar Marg. “We visited all the buildings and decided to go with Manav as this was newly-constructed and in better condition than the others. The first, second, third, fourth, seventh, and 16th floor of this 20-storey building is vacant and the survivors of the 10 families from Sai Darshan have even decided on the flats they want. The request has accordingly been forwarded to the respective authority in BMC. We are hoping that they get the formalities done soon and we get a shelter to call home,” said Darshan Doshi, a survivor of Sai Darshan CHS, whose father was stuck in debris for 13 hours.
The residents said they were promised a temporary homes by the authorities within 350- to 400-metre radius of their housing society but they have had to compromise with Bhandup. Aatish Shah, a fourth-floor resident, who lost his mother and 14-year-old niece, said, “We are now down to six members including my two brothers and thier family. Their children go to schools in Ghatkopar and we are now trying to figure how to manage their schooling if we shift to Bhandup. They might even have to take admission in new school. The accommodation there is a one BHK with water and electricity connection. We will have to fix everything from the ceiling fan to tubelights. Our flat at Sai Darshan was a two BHK.” The Shah family is currently staying with relatives in Ghatkopar.
Binita Ramchandani, a resident of Hyderabad, whose parents survived the collapse, feels that after a lot of struggle, this is the first good news. “Though I haven’t seen the flat yet, I have seen the videos and I am satisfied that my parents can stay there comfortably. I hope the houses get allotted at the earliest,” she said.
