Politics, fear of losing tenancy stall evacuation

With the second building collapse in a week, residents of Bhiwandi are a worried lot. Most have been living in old buildings for years, an ubiquitous feature of this powerloom township.

On July 31, a two-storey residential building had collapsed, claiming nine lives. On Sunday, eight people were killed in another collapse of a two-storey building.

“Of the 17 extremely dangerous buildings, seven have been already evacuated while residents will be asked to vacate the remaining buildings immediately,” said municipal commissioner-in-charge, E. Ravindran.

According to Bhiwandi Nizampur City Municipal Corporation (BNCMC) officials, the civic body has declared more than 300 buildings as dangerous and has also served evacuation notices to the residents living in these structures.

“Most of the occupants are tenants and are unwilling to vacate their buildings fearing they may lose their residential rights in the building,” said a senior official from the BNCMC, on condition of anonymity.

“So, we have decided to provide residence certificate to the tenants so that their rights as tenants after redevelopment remain intact,” added the official.

Officials also cited political interference that hampered evacuation drives. “In order to keep their vote banks pleased, politicians pressurise officials to refrain from holding such drives,” said the official.

According to civic activist Mahfuz Khan, the lack of a full-time commissioner has also impeded the BNCMC’s functioning. “The civic body needs a commissioner with the rank of IAS, who can talk tough with politicians and make the city clean and encroachment-free,” he said.

“Recently, the MMRDA had started building a fly-over on the Kalyan-Bhiwandi Road, but the contractor stopped the project as the civic body failed to remove roadside encroachments following political pressure,” said Mr Khan.

The then BNCMC commissioner Balaji Khatgaonkar quit his post two weeks ago and since then, the additional charge of corporation has been given to Kalyan-Dombivali Municipal Corporation commissioner E. Ravindran, said Mr Khan.