MBMC demands rent from 80 families

Mumbai: Less than two months after they were evacuated without warning from their Mira Road apartments after cracks surfaced in their building allegedly due to excavation work carried out at an adjacent plot, 80 families rehabilitated in transit flats have been slapped with notices by the Mira-Bhayandar Municipal Corporation (MBMC), demanding payment of rent for the accommodation.

The families living in four buildings i.e. Aman, Amitabh and Madhuri with ground plus four storeys in Green Wood  Complex, Hatkesh area, Kashimira, were evacuated after massive damage to the structural column due to which wide cracks developed in the walls on August 28. “Since evacuation, we have been running from pillar-to-post in the MBMC to get a concrete reply on our permanent rehabilitation plan, but nobody seems interested in looking into our woes. Not only has the builder resumed his construction work, the civic administration has slap-ped notices to pay Rs 3,300 as monthly rent,” said one of the residents.

MBMC officer Deepak Khambit said, “Although notices have been issued, the rent amount will be recovered from the builder who reconstructs the buildings. Any type of digging work is restricted, however the developer has been allowed to finish the incomplete work.”