A day after the collapse of the 30-year-old Piyush Cooperative Housing Society in Dahisar (East),the death toll stands at seven and of the seven persons injured,one has been admitted to Navneet Hospital,Dahisar,five to Bhagwati Hospital,Borivali and one to Rohit Hospital,Dahisar. Most of the injured were vegetable vendors who had come to buy fresh stock from the wholesale market. Santosh Ghone,35,a vegetable seller in Borivali,had gone to the wholesale market at 6.10 am. Around 6.40 am,the structure near the market caved in. A slab hit my head,but I was conscious for 10-15 minutes and shouted for help. My mother,who had accompanied me,found me unconscious and ran for help, he said. Ghone was rescued around 8.45 am. I am lucky to have survived. For the past two years,Jayprakash Gupta,45,has sold vegetables in the galla near Piyush Society. Despite knowing of the dilapidated condition of the building,he continued operating his business from there. My husband paid a monthly rent of Rs 9,000 for the space. We had no other option. He was asked to leave his earlier spot as a hotel was being constructed nearby, said his wife Meena Gupta. Gupta,who suffered a leg fracture and head injuries,was pulled out from the rubble by locals. When the building collapsed,my husband and son were unloading stock from the truck. My son ran to safety but my husband got stuck in the rubble, said Meena. We hope to get some compensation from the government, she added. Another vendor Rambharose Rajbhar,22 of Jaunpur,Uttar Pradesh,has been working in a juice shop in the galla of the building for the past two-three years with his brother,Sanjay Jaiswal. He used to sleep on the premises after work. He was found unconscious in the rubble by the fire brigade. When I called the shop owner,he told me about the collapse and I rushed to hospital, said Jaiswal,who had returned from Jaunpur the same day. Four colleagues of Rajbhar died in the collapse. The juice shop was a rented space and the builder had promised to relocate the shop in some time,said Jaiswal. He said the juice shop was shifted to the galla after BMC vacated the building in 2010. Govindrao Gupta,35,a vegetable seller in Daulat Nagar,said,When the building came crashing down,I injured both my knees,but did not faint. I dragged myself out, he said. Ranjeetram Maurya,40,who has three young daughters,is worried about his income. A vegetable seller in Ambawadi,he had come to the market to buy stock. I heard a lot of commotion and screams. I have a faint recollection of fire brigade pulling me out, he said.
