Nine buildings dangerous: Mhada

Mumbai: Following a pre-monsoon audit of dilapidated buildings in the island city, the Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (Mhada), has listed nine buildings in South and Central Mumbai as ‘extremely dangerous’ and unfit to be inhabited during the monsoon, and notified occupants to vacate them within a week.  

Subsequently, Mhada has claimed that it is giving the residents of these nine buildings a week to vacate their homes before the monsoon, which will arrive in the first week of June. “As we are wont to do every year, we are requesting them to vacate their dilapidated buildings and shift into transit camps in order to initiate the process of redevelopment. We have been issuing notices to these residents and will use force via the police and civic authorities to vacate these tenants in case of reluctance,” said Ravindra Waikar, minister of state for housing.

Out of the nine buildings, six had been listed in last year’s announcement, while three have appeared on the list for the first time. The buildings are mostly located at Grant Road, Chowpatty, Byculla and Colaba.

Around 14,375 dilapidated buildings in the city come under the Mumbai Building Repairs and Reconstruction Board (MBRRB), which offers temporary alternative accommodation in its transit camps to the tenants of the buildings that collapse or are to be demolished or to be repaired.

Speaking on the policy for dilapidated buildings, also known as cessed buildings, housing minister Prakash Mehta said, “The state has formed a committee under the chief secretary and is working on a housing policy for the redevelopment of cessed buildings after which there will be more clarity in case of redevelopment of these dilapidated structures.”