The construction of 13 transit camps is still in its planning stage, as the BMC has only recently invited tenders for building transit camps
Mumbai : Construction of transit camps to house BMC’s conservancy workers is yet to see daylight and about 6000 civic workers still live in dilapidated houses, waiting for them to be redeveloped.
The civic body has planned redevelopment of all dilapidated buildings housing its conservancy workers and will shift such families to transit camps to provide them with temporary accommodation.
Currently, the BMC has around 28,000 conservancy workers of which around 6000 stay in dilapidated civic buildings. Some of these buildings are 70-80 years old and in extremely dilapidated conditions.
Prakash Patil, deputy municipal commissioner in-charge of the project, said, “Some of the existing buildings are so dilapidated, they are like disasters waiting to happen. We need to redevelop them on priority. That will take at least 7-8 years. Meanwhile, providing the workers with transit camps is on the agenda.”
According to Patil, BMC had planned to construct 16 such transit camps in the city, of which three have already been constructed in Dadar, Chembur and Mahim.
The construction of remaining 13 transit camps is still in its planning stage, as the BMC has only recently invited tenders for building the 13 transit camps around the city.
The BMC has allocated Rs 143 crore towards this project. The proposed transit houses will be 300 sq feet. These camps will be ready by next monsoon as per the plan. BMC has already shifted some workers into two transit camps in Dadar and Chembur. It will soon begin shifting families to the third transit camp at Mahim.
FPJ had reported in 2013, regarding the collapse of Babu Genu building of Mazgaon, which was home to BMC workers. The four-storey building that collapsed on September 27 claimed the lives of 61 people. Following this incident, the workers living in BMC buildings have housed concerns of another mishap. This led to conceptualisation of the plan to redevelop such buildings.
However, only after the workers are accommodated in transit camps, redevelopment of the buildings will be undertaken.
Eeshanpriya M S
