Why Bhiwandi’s building collapse crisis refuses to end

4 min readJul 31, 2026 11:16 AM IST A building has collapsed in Bhiwandi of Thane district, Maharashtra, killing at least eight. (Express Photo by Deepak Joshi) The collapse of a four-storey building in Bhiwandi on Thursday night has once again turned the spotlight on the town’s ageing building stock, rampant illegal construction, and years of delayed redevelopment, which have made building collapses a recurring feature every monsoon. The scale of Bhiwandi’s problem, which lies 50 km North of Mumbai, far exceeds that of neighbouring Mumbai despite the vast difference in size. Ahead of the 2026 monsoon, the Bhiwandi Nizampur City Municipal Corporation identified 1,790 dangerous buildings, including 227 in the C1 category that require immediate evacuation and demolition.By comparison, the Br