As the rain approaches, the concern over the safety of occupants in dilapidated buildings has become more challenging. In a pre-monsoon survey, the BMC declared 337 buildings dangerous. Out of them, the electricity and water connections of 102 are disconnected, while 113 buildings are vacated. But occupants of 122 buildings have moved to court, so the ward offices are requesting the legal department to speed up the case so that they can vacate such buildings to avoid untoward incidents.
According to BMC's policy, buildings that are more than 30 years old are eligible for audit. The civic body sends notice of evacuation to buildings that they found dangerous or at high risk. Based on these reports, BMC classifies the buildings in various categories and decides whether they should be demolished completely or need maintenance. The buildings which should be demolished immediately are tagged as C-1. As a precautionary measure, BMC has appealed to these residents to move to safer places immediately. But in some cases, either tenant has gone to the courts and got a stay order or refuses to leave even after water and electricity are disconnected.
On Thursday a ground plus two-storey building in Bandra (west) suddenly collapsed and claimed two lives. This incident has increased the worry of ward officials of 24 administrative wards in the city. Most of the dilapidated buildings on the BMC’s list are in the T ward - Mulund which has 49 dilapidated structures, followed by K West ward- Andheri West with 42 buildings. Out of 42 buildings, 10 have been vacated, and the water and electricity of 17 buildings have been disconnected. While 16 cases are pending in court.
Prithviraj Chauhan, Assistant commissioner of K west said, "We have requested our legal department to fast track the cases pending in court so that we can vacate the dilapidated buildings. Also, the action on other dilapidated buildings in the ward is being taken according to standard operating procedure." The highest 25 dilapidated buildings in the city area are in GTB Nagar, Sion Koliwada. "We have disconnected the water - electricity connection and then vacated these buildings. Soon we will be taking demolition action," said Gajanan Bellale, assistant commissioner of F North ward.
Dilapidated building 2022
City - 70
Western suburbs - 163
Eastern suburbs - 104
Areas with the most dilapidated buildings
City - Sion, matunga - F North - 25
Western - Andheri West - K West - 42
Eastern - Mulund - T - 49
