MUMBAI, Feb. 13 -- Residents of buildings at Charkop Sector No 8 experienced major vibrations on Wednesday afternoon due to the pile testing work on the Charkop interconnector of the Coastal Road. Residents, including those staying on the top floors of the seven-storied Sea Mist building, said they panicked and ran down. "Our bed shook and the window panes started rattling in our sixth-floor flat, scaring my wife who locked the door and rushed downstairs," said Satish Sawant. Added Nishang Ashar, "My wife and child were at home and they thought there was an earthquake." Sea Mist's secretary Bharat Jagtap told HT that while a structural audit of every flat in the buildings near the Coastal Road work site was conducted in September last year as a pre- project exercise, nothing prepared them for such strong vibrations. "We are not against the work," he said. "If there was a hydraulic hammering happening yesterday, today we had no issue with the hydraulic drilling, which didn't cause any issue." Anil Malhotra, chairman of Charkop Shree Gajanan CHS, said, "While we don't expect them to inform us about every little thing, we should have been in the loop on this. Besides, they should take responsibility in case of any damage to our building and people due to their work." Building residents subsequently forced the workers to stop the piling work . Thereafter, the building authorities wrote to the bridges department, asking for an explanation. Mili Shetty of the Charkop Sector 8 Vikas Samiti, which has about 22 buildings along with 40 cluster societies, said that while the officials had informed residents about the work, they were not prepared for such strong effects. She has convened a meeting of residents with the local legislator Sanjay Upadhyay to further discuss the issue. A bridges department official told HT that the vibrations were probably due to the cement concrete roads. "We have now changed the methodology and work has re-started today," he said. "We are also monitoring the site with vibration sensors to check if the vibrations are within permissible limits. Mumbai has seen the construction of underground tunnels and metros without any issue, and we should be able to complete this work too."...