Dadar building stands on one wing & prayer

Following the BMC (Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation) releasing the list of dilapidated buildings in the city, DNA visited the Khandke building in Dadar which also features in the list of dilapidated buildings.

Established in the pre-independence era, all 12 of the buildings are divided among the 4 Khandke brothers. Two of these 12 buildings are evacuated since 10 years. The others are old, reporting leakages in places and are still occupied.

The residents follow the old rent act system more commonly known as the 'Pagdi' system. Under the system, residents pay frozen, scarce rents to the owner for years. This impacts the maintenance and upkeep of the property greatly. There have been failed attempts at redevelopment as well.

The residents were ignorant about their inclusion in the C -1 category list. "There have been repairs and renovations done since 1976, under my initiative. However, this BMC list is news to us," said Subhash Vaidya, a resident of Khandke Building 6.

The now unoccupied, derelict building number 7 and 8 previous home to railway police staff still lie in a state of disarray. People staying here were asked to vacate the buildings after which a part of them was demolished.

"Our homes could feel the vibrations when the building fell. We, then, asked the MHADA officials after which our buildings and houses were inspected by engineers and repairs were done.", informs resident Amit Rane.

The wooden structures of these buildings were replaced by metal bars and the constant problem of water leakage was temporarily solved. This was an initiative taken two years ago, after which no heed was paid to the poor structural conditions of these buildings.

This year, the BMC has released a list of 499 buildings. The G/ North ward, near the Khandke buildings, itself consists of 10 such dilapidated buildings. Private individuals own seven out of these and the municipality owns the other three.