Mumbai: 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 would be responsible for any mishap.
The BMC has categorised 493 buildings as C-1 structures (unsafe for inhabitation) in the last two years. As per data received from civic sources, 289 dangerous buildings have been demolished till now. 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.
A senior civic official said, “The number of dilapidated buildings has declined in the past few years. We have instructed our officials to get the stay vacated from the court so that further action can be carried out. Currently, 41 buildings that are not in court cases are on our priority list to vacate before heavy rains.” The official said it is challenging to evict the unwilling occupants.
Meanwhile, the BMC has appealed to the residents of dilapidated buildings to immediately vacate or consult technical experts and immediately install props to make their structures safe. Occupants can also 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. The BMC takes stringent measures to disconnect power and water supply to force residents to leave.
Total dangerous buildings 493
Demolished 289
Dilapidated 188
Evacuated 84
Court cases 63
Highest numbers in…
Malad 22
Borivali 19
Andheri West 16
Mulund 16
Bandra West 15
Andheri East 15
Ghatkopar 13
