Maha: 250 families in 5 buildings vacated after slabs loosen, pillars develop cracks; residents protest against builder

The loose slabs and cracked pillars were noticed around 11 pm on Saturday, after which fire brigade, police and civic personnel arrived at the site in Nilje and vacated the buildings housing around 250 families, he said.These buildings have been built in 1998.

A residential complex with five buildings at Dombivali in Maharashtra's Thane district was completely vacated after some of its slabs started loosening and pillars developed cracks, fire brigade officials said on Sunday. The loose slabs and cracked pillars were noticed around 11 pm on Saturday, after which fire brigade, police and civic personnel arrived at the site in Nilje and vacated the buildings housing around 250 families, he said.

''These buildings have been built in 1998. They are not in the list of dangerous buildings maintained by the Kalyan Dombivli Municipal Corporation. The ward officer will take a call on its future after structural checks are carried out,'' civic sub fire officer Namdeo Chowdhary told PTI.

There are no reports of anyone getting injured, and residents who have been vacated are finding alternate accommodation on their own, he added. Meanwhile, members of the affected families held a 'rasta roko' at Nilje on Sunday night to protest against the builder of the residential complex and raised slogans. The demonstrators stopped the movement of traffic for a few hours. Police personnel were deployed at the site to control the situation.