Mumbai: Two people died on Saturday after the wall and roof of a community toilet at a chawl collapsed in suburban Bhandup, police said.

The incident happened at around 6 am on Saturday and police officials identified the two deceased as Lobaben Jetwa (42) and Babulal Dewase (45).

"A few people who were trapped under the debris were rescued by fire brigade personnel. Two of them were seriously injured and were rushed to hospital but they died while undergoing treatment," said Akhilesh Singh, Deputy Commissioner of Police, Zone VII.

He said that a case of accidental death had been registered and further investigation into the cause of the toilet collapse was underway.</s>2 persons have been reported dead as a public toilet in Mumbai's Bhandup collapses. Watch to know more.</s>TWO PERSONS died in Bhandup early Saturday while they were using a community toilet, which collapsed into a septic tank. This comes nearly two months after a portion of another public toilet had collapsed in Mankhurd, killing three persons.

 The deceased, Labhuben Jethava (40) and Babulal Devase (45), were residents of Sai Sadan chawl. The toilet had 20 cubicles — 10 on each side — and catered to four chawls in the Patilwadi area of Bhandup (West). Local residents claimed the tiling on the toilet floor had been creaking since Friday.

The incident took place around 6.30 am. Soon, residents of Sai Sadan chawl, located just ahead of the toilet, realised that two persons who had gone to use the toilet had fallen in the septic tank. They called up the fire brigade. Due to the narrow lane leading up to the toilet, it took a while before fire brigade officials could remove the bodies. They were rushed to the Rajawadi hospital where they were declared brought dead on arrival.

Rita Jethava, a relative of Labhuben, said: “Just a month ago, the family had got a toilet constructed at their room in the chawl. It was, however, a western style toilet and Labhuben was not comfortable with it. Her family kept telling her to use it, but she went to the public toilet.”

Vanita Parmar, another relative, added: “We have been told that for the past 10 to 15 days, people had been talking about how the structure of the toilet was shaking.”

Labhuben is survived by her husband and three children — two boys and a girl. Babulal Devase used to work at a clothes shop near Bhandup railway station. Hailing from Rajasthan, he is survived by his wife and four sons. “I had used the public toilet around 6 am. There was some creaking noise. I did not think much of it. Fifteen minutes later, my husband went to the toilet and the entire structure came down,” said Babulal’s wife.

Omkar Ahire, a resident of Sai Sadan chawl, said the toilet has been there for decades and was repaired nearly eight years ago. “The basic plaster on the roof was repaired… the structure remained weak. People have written to successive corporators about it, but nothing much has come of it.”

“Nearly 30 to 40 per cent of the people in these chawls use the public toilet. Not everyone can afford to get a toilet constructed in the house, which of course has to be done illegally,” a resident said. A Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC)official said they are investigating the matter.

An officer from Bhandup police said: “We have registered an accidental death report in both cases and are investigating if there was negligence on the part of anyone that led to the incident.”

“We received two bodies from the collapse site, one male and one female. Their postmortem examination is underway,” said Dr Vidya Thakur, superintendent at Rajawadi hospital. On February 2, a portion of another community toilet at Mankhurd had collapsed, resulting in the death of three persons. The Mankhurd police had registered an FIR against the contractor, who was later arrested.

For all the latest Mumbai News, download Indian Express App</s>MUMBAI: A part of a public toilet complex collapse in Bhandup in Mumbai killing two people. Efforts are on to pull out another person from under the debris. The incident took place on Saturday morning in Tank Road area of Bhandup.

Rescue teams of the fire brigade and National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) are at the spot and are trying to save those caught in the debris.</s>[India] Apr 28 (ANI): Two persons were killed on Saturday after a public toilet complex collapsed in Mumbai.

A team of National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) reached the spot for rescue work in collaboration with the fire department.

The public toilet complex, located at Saisadan chawl at Mumbai's Bhandup area,

was approximately 25 years old and was not being maintained properly by the city's municipal body.

"Unfortunately in the morning the toilet wall and the roof collapsed, and 19 out of 20 toilets get submerged beneath their foundations," said Deputy Commissioner P. Akhilesh Kumar Singh. (ANI)</s>According to residents, the two were stuck in the debris for nearly five hours before being rescued

Two people relieving themselves lost their life after a 20-seat public toilet at Saisadan Society of Om Pimpaleshwar Colony, Bhandup West, came crashing down on Saturday morning. The deceased have been identified as Labuben Dhirubhai Jetwa, 42, a homemaker, and Laxman Babalal Dewasi, 45, an employee of a garment store. According to residents, the two were stuck in the debris for nearly five hours before being rescued.

"Both had head injuries and bruises. The bodies have been sent for postmortem," said an official from Rajawadi Hospital. Residents of the society claimed that a crack had developed on one of the walls of the toilet around 20 days ago. However, no one had raised an alarm.

Also Read: Mumbai: 18-Year-Old Boy Dies After Suffering Epilepsy Attack Inside A Public Toilet In Bandra

Catch up on all the latest Crime, National, International and Hatke news here. Also download the new mid-day Android and iOS apps to get latest updates</s>Few people were also trapped under the debris, who were later rescued by fire brigade personnel

Two people died after the roof and wall of a community toilet at a chawl in suburban Bhandup collapsed on Saturday, police said. The incident took place at around 6 am. Police officials identified the deceased as Lobaben Jetwa (42) and Babulal Dewase (45). Few people were also trapped under the debris. They were later rescued by fire brigade personnel.

Two of them were seriously injured and were rushed to hospital but they died while undergoing treatment," said Akhilesh Singh, Deputy Commissioner of Police, Zone VII. He said that a case of accidental death had been registered and further investigation into the cause of the toilet collapse was underway.

Catch up on all the latest Mumbai news, crime news, current affairs, and also a complete guide on Mumbai from food to things to do and events across the city here. Also download the new mid-day Android and iOS apps to get latest updates</s>In the wake of a toilet collapse in Bhandup claimed two lives on Saturday, the BMC will inspect all its old community/public toilets. The move, civic officials claimed, is to prevent such incidents in future. But according to civic officials, the toilet that collapsed at Bhandup was not maintained by the BMC. Residents of the area had got it built with the help of a former corporator.

BMC has conducted a structural audit of all toilets under its jurisdiction. But these toilets will be re-inspected on a ward level soon to prevent such incidents from recurring. “To make sure the toilet block structures are safe, we will conduct inspections at the ward level. The exercise is to just make sure that no life is in jeopardy and to prevent any incidents like the Bhandup one from occurring,” said a senior BMC official.

Babulal Devji (40) and Labhuben Jethwa (42) were killed after the floor of a community toilet caved into a septic tank around 6 am in Sai-Sadan Chawl, Bhandup West. Firemen struggled for six hours to remove the bodies with the help of other agencies. The firemen with the help of a National Disaster Response Force team managed to recover the bodies from the septic tank. “We had sought a report from the respective ward on the incident and it was ascertained that the toilet was not built or maintained by BMC. For our toilets, we had conducted a structural audit last year, officials had clear instructions to demolish and re-build or repair the toilet structures which are found to be dilapidated and weak,” said BMC Commissioner Ajoy Mehta.

To address the shortage of toilet and to stop open defecation, the BMC had last year announced construction of over 18,000 new toilets. The civic body has decided to build two and three-storey toilets, to overcome space constraints. The estimated cost of constructing 18,818 toilet blocks is Rs 376 crore. BMC also plans to pull down 11,170 toilets and make 15,774 new toilets in their place using improved design. “The city will get additional 4,604 toilet blocks in the place of old ones,” said a senior official. The remaining 3,044 toilet blocks will be completely new ones. The city currently has nearly 12,000 public toilets, most of them over a decade old.

For all the latest Mumbai News, download Indian Express App</s>Mumbai: Former India batsman Lalchand Rajput believes that Mumbai Indians skipper Rohit Sharma should open the innings for the defending champions as it can give the team a good start.

"Rohit is a prolific opening batsman, who has done exceptionally well for India as an opener. So opening and playing freely is important for him. If you start well, then you can pile up a big score. You have to open with Rohit, as simple as that," Rajput told PTI.

"When you bat at No 4 after losing two wickets, that is a different ball-game rather than opening. It (Rohit opening the innings) will help Mumbai, because they will get a good start, as the start is important," the former Mumbai opener added.

Three times champion Mumbai Indians, who have lost five of their six games, have opted to open with West Indian Evin Lewis and Suryakumar Yadav, with wicketkeeper Ishan Kishan coming one-down. Rohit has been coming to bat at No 4.

"But Rohit is such a player, once he gets 30s, he makes it big," Rajput, a domestic stalwart, said.

In the six games played so far, except his match-winning knock of 94 against the Royal Challengers Bangalore, Rohit has not even gone past the score of 20.

Rajput, the former coach of Afghanistan, also said that West Indian all-rounder Kieron Pollard has been "struggling" and Mumbai can look at South African JP Duminy as an option.

"If a certain player is not doing well, you have to look at it. He (Pollard) is not in good form and has not (performed) well. It is time that they (MI) look for another option and (JP) Duminy is another option," added Rajput.

Thirty-year-old Pollard has failed miserably with the bat and his highest score in the five games this season has been 28.

Mumbai Indians will now clash with Chennai Super Kings on Saturday in Pune and will seek revenge after their defeat to the Mahendra Singh Dhoni-led side at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.</s>A few days ago, you could sympathise with Mumbai Indians because they were putting in the performances but narrowly missing out on results. Before their last match, they had lost four out of five games; all four in the last over while defending targets, and two by one wicket.

On Tuesday against Sunrisers Hyderabad, Mumbai had no one to blame but themselves. Chasing 119, they collapsed to their lowest-ever IPL total of 87 on a fresh Wankhede pitch against an attack that was without Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Billy Stanlake.

What has gone wrong for them? Here are a few factors that have combined to put Mumbai Indians at the bottom of the table.

Mumbai’s strength during last year’s winning campaign has turned into their weakness. The personnel has remained similar, after an auction in which they attempted to retain the core of the Pandya brothers and Kieron Pollard, but that core has not fired.

Mumbai’s think-tank also decided to open with Suryakumar Yadav after their first two losses, so that Rohit Sharma could add stability to the middle order. Even though Suryakumar has adapted well, the lack of runs from the Pandyas and Pollard has hurt Mumbai.

In each of their six matches so far, at least one of their top-order batsmen – Evin Lewis, Ishan Kishan and Suryakumar – has given them a start. The hole in the middle order was exposed the most against Delhi Daredevils, when all of their top fired to power Mumbai to 141 for 2 in 13 overs. From there, they unravelled in the attempt to accelerate and ended on 194 when they were on course for 220.

Hardik Pandya’s case is unusual. He started off well in the opening match at No. 5 but has moved down to No. 7 since then, below Krunal Pandya and Pollard. Apart from two unbeaten innings of 22 and 17, he has scored nine runs across three innings while coming out to bat in the last three overs. It could be that bowlers have found out Hardik’s weakness and don’t deliver the ball in his arc anymore. When Mumbai head coach Mahela Jayawardene was asked about this, he didn’t dismiss the possibility.

Pollard’s transition from a fixed asset to a non-performing one seems to be happening rapidly this season. He doesn’t bowl in the IPL anymore, he hasn’t won his side a match in times of crisis, and he takes one of the four overseas spots. Apart from the lack of runs, it is also his position that is under scrutiny now. He has been coming out to bat with not much time left in the innings and is striking at 88.23 in his first 10 balls, the fourth-worst of all batsmen to have faced a minimum of 30 balls this season. Will Mumbai now look to move him up the order or will they drop him altogether?

Rohit Sharma clarified after his 94 against Royal Challengers Bangalore that he would continue in the middle order to allow Suryakumar and Kishan to flourish at the top. Rohit may have been batting at No. 4 on that particular day, but he walked out in the first over, with Mumbai 0 for 2, effectively opening the innings – which is where he bats for India.

Opening works for Rohit because he is at his best when he has time to get his eye in, and time is a luxury in T20 cricket. In all T20s since 2015, he has a first-10-balls strike rate of 117.6, with a dot-ball percentage of nearly 50 in that time. If he opens for Mumbai, he can afford to go slow early on, since he will have Lewis or Kishan to do the early hitting at the other end. Once he’s set, Rohit is capable of murderous acceleration: once he has faced 30 balls, he strikes at 177.3. That was exactly the case against Royal Challengers; he was on 40 off 30 after 14 overs, and then launched into the quick bowlers to score 54 runs off his next 22 balls.

As captain, Rohit might be thinking long-term by promoting Suryakumar and Kishan up the order. But given the situation Mumbai are in, he will have to prioritise immediate results over developing younger players. And for that, moving back up to open might not be a bad idea. (Excerpts from ESPNcricinfo)
A communal toilet collapses in Bhandup, Mumbai, India. Several people are trapped and require rescue, with two dying en route to hospital.