Nagpur: A section of the historic boundary wall of Empress Mill, located near Marwadi Chawl in Central Nagpur, collapsed late Sunday night September 7, around 11:30 PM. While there were no casualties, four parked cars were crushed under the debris.

On Monday, Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) Commissioner and Administrator, Dr. Abhijeet Chaudhari, visited the site to assess the damage. He instructed officials to immediately issue a notice to the current owner. Former Mayor Dayashankar Tiwari, Chief Engineer Manoj Talewar, Deputy Commissioner Ganesh Rathod, and former Corporator Sanjay Balpande were also present during the inspection.

The wall, which was approximately six meters high and 50 feet long, was constructed from lime and bricks. Established by the Tata Group in 1889, the mill and its boundary wall are nearly 136 years old. The collapsed portion fell onto a slab covering a drain where four cars were parked. The slab also gave way, and fortunately, no one was inside the vehicles at the time of the incident.

Dr. Chaudhari promptly ordered the immediate demolition of the damaged structure and the removal of the remaining unsafe portions of the wall. Following his instructions, officials from the NMC's Gandhi Bagh zone, supervised by Assistant Engineer Sanjay Ingle, Junior Engineer B.K. Tayde, and Dilip Wanjari, used a JCB machine to raze the rest of the structure.

CCTV Footage Shows Narrow Escape:

A CCTV video of the collapse has also emerged, showing the moment the wall came down. The footage captures two two-wheelers passing by just as the wall collapses. The first motorcycle crossed safely, but the second one narrowly escaped the falling debris. In what could have been a major tragedy, both riders and their pillion passengers were fortunately unharmed.