Mumbai: In a relief to residents living in dilapidated buildings, the Brihanmumbai Muni-cipal Corporation (BMC) has drafted a new policy for the repairs or redevelopment of these structures.
There are about 30,000 dilapidated buildings in the city. The new policy aims at ensuring more transparency in addressing the issues of old and dilapidated buildings and protecting the rights of tenants living in them, said civic officials.
In last few years, the city has witnessed a spate of building collapse incidents, which has necessitated the formulation of a new policy for dilapidated buildings.
The new policy makes it mandatory to conduct a structural audit of a building before declaring it dilapidated or dangerous. It will also allow prosecution of the owner of the structure for not carrying out structural audit even after a notice is issued by the BMC. The owner of a dilapidated building will also have to certify the area to ensure each tenant gets the correct amount of space during redevelopment.
“The new policy will protect the rights of tenants and put an end to the practice of arbitrary declaration of buildings as dilapidated. The policy is expected to give a boost to the repair or redevelopment of old and dilapidated buildings, including 19,000 dilapidated buildings under the MHADA,” said a senior civic official.
Instead of one committee earlier, the policy has recommended the formation of five new technical advisory committees.
