Several persons are feared trapped under the debris of an old Railway parcel office building that collapsed here today, police said.
Rescue operations were on with emergency teams rushing to the spot, police said adding, some injured persons were being treated at a local hospital.
The old building near the Railway station housed parcel office on the ground floor and Railway police station on the first.
Railway police are said to have partially vacated the building.
A large number of people have gathered at the spot, with police making efforts to vacate it fearing the building might collapse further.
(Reopens BES1)
Meanwhile, the Bridges Department of Brihanmumbai
Municipal Corporation (BMC) has started an inquiry to find out the cause of the collapse.
Vijay Kamble, administrative head of the local R-North ward, said, "We have launched an inquiry into the incident and I have asked the inquiring team to submit a report at the earliest. After engineers of the Bridges Department submit their report, further action will be taken."
Meanwhile, the civic administration is planning to conduct a structural audit of skywalks under its jurisdiction, another BMC official said.
The official, seeking anonymity, said, "It was sheer luck that only one person was under the skywalk at the time of the incident. There could have been casualties had there been more people."
Noted RTI activist Anil Galgali has written a letter to Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis demanding an immediate audit of all the skywalks constructed by the MMRDA.
"The collapse is a poor reflection on the MMRDA's functioning. A skywalk bulit at a cost of Rs 15 crore could not last more than five years. In my letter to th CM, I have demanded structural audit of all the skywalks and stern action against those found guilty for the (Dahisar) incident.
