Mumbai: BMC Looks To Supreme Court For Help In Vacating Dilapidated Buildings

To resolve the issue of dilapidated buildings, the BMC will soon be approaching the Supreme court challenging orders of the city civil court or High Court (HC) staying eviction notices issued to tenants/ residents of such buildings. Currently, the occupants of 63 dangerously dilapidated buildings in the city have moved to court to challenge their eviction by the BMC.

The civic body has declared 188 dilapidated buildings as “dangerous” in its pre-monsoon survey this year but has been able to evict occupants from only 84 of them. To the rest of them, occupants of 41 buildings, the civic body has sent notices, making it amply clear that it’s in their safety to evacuate or else they will be responsible for any mishap. While residents of 63 buildings have moved to court. 

"Stringent measures are taken, such as disconnecting power and water supply to force residents to leave. Still, it makes no difference to them. We can understand on humanitarian ground, but who will be responsible if such a building collapses during heavy rains? We have been successful in bringing down the number of dilapidated buildings in the past few years. To resolve the issue permanently, we will be approaching the apex court," said a civic official. 

Ashwini Joshi, additional municipal commissioner said, "We are discussing the issue and will soon approach the Supreme court."

In the last two years, the BMC has categorised 493 buildings as C-1 structures (unsafe for inhabitation). According to data from civic sources, 289 dangerous buildings have been demolished. In a recent survey, the highest number of dangerous buildings were found in the western suburbs (144), followed by 47 in the eastern suburbs and 27 in the island city. 

Occupants can contact the disaster management cell helpline numbers 1916 /22694725/ 22694727 in case of an emergency. The list of the dilapidated buildings has been uploaded to the BMC's website, www.mcgm.gov.in. As per the civic policy, buildings that are more than 30 years old are eligible for an audit. Based on a survey, the civic body annually classifies the buildings in various categories and decides whether they should be demolished completely or allowed to be repaired. 

Published on: Friday, May 31, 2024, 09:06 AM IST