BMC vows to vacate 104 shaky buildings

Learning a lesson from the Hussaini building collapse in Zaveri Bazaar during monsoon last year, in which 33 people had died, Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has pulled up its socks, and civic chief Ajoy Mehta has passed an order to compulsorily vacate 104 extremely dilapidated buildings in the next two months.

On Wednesday, Mehta directed all zonal Deputy Municipal Commissioners (DMC) that if residents refuse to vacate even after water and electricity supply is disconnected, then police help should be taken to make them leave the buildings.

DMC Bharat Marathe said, “Out of 104 buildings, 84 are in Kurla East and West. The water and power supply in many of these buildings has already been disconnected. However, the residents still live there. Many of them have issues with their landlords, and others have nowhere to go. But we cannot risk their lives. We don’t want a repeat of incidents like the Hussaini building collapse.”

On August 30 last year, the 117-year-old Hussaini building in Zaveri Bazaar had collapsed killing 33 and injuring 17. But, on the other hand, the fact remains that many of these dilapidated buildings are private, and BMC would not provide alternative accommodation to their residents. “It is up to the tenants and owners of private buildings to find alternative accommodation. Only if a  building is municipal property is the BMC liable to provide alternative accommodation,” Marathe said.