12,000 people get seven days to plan exit from crumbling homes in Mumbai

In temporary relief to over 12,000 Punjabi refugees in 21 buildings at Sion's Guru Tegh Bahadur (GTB) Nagar that have been declared dangerous to live in, the Bombay High Court gave them a week's time to submit a plan detailing when they would vacate the premises. Until then, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation ( BMC) has been restrained from taking any coercive action.

Advocate Anand Jondhale, appearing for the societies, said, "We are going to vacate the building but there has to be a consensus among the residents. There are over 12,000 residents including children, women and senior citizens. We will need a week's time to inform the court about the plan to move out. Until then we have given an undertaking that we are staying here of our own will."

The court had on Monday asked the residents to submit an undertaking indicating when they would move out.

In the last hearing, the court went through Technical Advisory Committee reports of 25 buildings in the locality and found 21 to have been prepared following due procedure. Accordingly, it asked the residents of these 21 structures to vacate their houses. The court found some discrepancies in the reports of the other four buildings and called for fresh reports.

Pradeep Nanbrajog of Vijay Punjab cooperative housing society, said, "We have nowhere to go. No alternate accommodation has been offered to us, nor any redevelopment plan. We will be forced to live on the road during the rains if the corporation forces us out."

Earlier, the civic body had issued a public notice stating it would not be responsible if these buildings collapsed.

'SHIP OUT'

• BMC has claimed that if residents stay on, it will a ‘suicide attempt’
   
• The housing societies had approached HC seeking redevelopment plan before they vacate. 
   
• Last year, a protest had erupted when BMC tried to evacuate buildings