The society, located at Sir Pochkhanwala road, near Traffic Police headquarters, Worli, has been formed by former and sitting MLAs and MPs in Maharashtra. The 20 families in Gagan Mahal allege that the high-powered dynamite blasts for laying the proposed society's foundation will cause their building to cave in any time, a la Govind Towers.

At least six main columns of the four storied building have already developed wide cracks, and the steel bars jut out of the columns. The bottom of the overhead water tank situated on the building's terrace is at bursting point. Due to wide cracks in the ceiling, water has started seeping into thefour flats on the top floor. The window panes are shattered and two have already fallen off their hinges.

The residents say the contractor constructing the building - M/s C M Belekar and Associates - has ignored their repeated pleas to stop the high powered blasts. The Public Works Department (PWD) of the state government, in charge of maintaining the building, has also done next to nothing to repair damage truggered off by the blasts, allege the residents.

The proposed building is to be multi-storied and will require a deep and strong foundation. The contractor got to work in May this year, blasting the rock using dynamites to speed up work. This, say Gagan Mahal's beleagured residents, causes utensils to tumble off shelves and shakes children out of their sleep in terror. ``The blasts are so powerful that once, they rocked television sets in our flats so badly that they conked off. The engineer said it was due a strong shock, and we had to replace costly sensitive parts of the set,'' resident SunitaUttarwar told Express Newsline.

Added Meenal Pedgaonkar: ``Life has become a nightmare for us. We are experiencing an earthquake of sorts thrice a day since May. If they continue doing it for some more days, you will have another name to add to the list of the Poonam Chambers and Govind Towers.'' The residents have accused the PWD of failing to instruct the contractor to stop the blasts or at least use less powerful explosives. They have handed in a complaint to the PWD secretary, M V Patil, asking him to intervene.

An office bearer of the contractor's firm, C M Belekar Associates, said the proprietor M S Belekar was out of town. However, an engineer present at the site defended the blasts. ``We have obtained necessary permission from the police to carry out the blasts. We are using specified explosives in the permitted quantity. We are not doing anything illegal. The building residents are exaggerating. If the blasts were really so powerful, then why is our office on the site intact? We are takingadequate precautions,'' he stated.

The residents, however, are hardly convinced. ``If they continue with it, we will all go together and stand on the plot. Let them blast us off first,'' said the women.