Rules give sufficient amount of authority to the BMC for initiating process of vacating or demolishing a structure once it is categorised as dangerous
Devil is in the detail. The BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) tried to shield itself from any culpability as regards to the Dongri building fall on Tuesday. In it's defence the civic body stated that it had served a notice in August 2017 to the landowner of Kesarbai building. The notice mentioned that in the event of any eventuality the blame will squarely rest on those who didn't act on the civic body's notice.
Stating so BMC rested pretty and didn't conduct any action of demolition or vacating on Kesarbai building which it had categorized as C 1 category ( dangerous building). In doing so now and in the past it is revealed that BMC is ignoring it's own guidelines in place for C1 category (dangerous buildings).
The guidelines clearly state that when BMC issues a notice under sub section (1) of section 354 of the Mumbai Municipal Corporation Act immediate demolition of C1 category building is desired and if it is not implemented by the owner or occupier within a reasonable period, the municipal commissioner is under an obligation to take such measures. Under section 489 the municipal commissioner or designated officer can remove the persons in occupation of a building and it is the obligation of the police to help the civic body. BMC could have done this by December 2018 as the policy guidelines for C1 category were put into effect in February 2018.
| SPEAKING NUMBERS |
| 94,851 Complaints received regarding illegal structures (form March 1, 2016, to July 8, 2019) |
| 42,697 Duplicate complaints |
| 52,154 Actual complaints |
| 21,873 Notices issued |
| 5,461 Demolitions carried out by the BMC |
Incidentally, Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority has already clarified that the inflated building was not in its jurisdiction nor it was under the cess category. Instead, MHADA had brought to the BMC's notice that the two floors were constructed without any due permission from it.
Ironically, despite enjoying enough powers under the Mumbai Municipal Corporation Act, BMC did not initiate action to demolish or vacate the inmates and chose to remain a silent observer.
As per the guidelines, it is also the duty of every police officer to assist the Commissioner or the officer nominated by him to carry out the lawful exercise.
A leading structural auditor said BMC instead of dilly-dallying should have effectively used its powers which could have averted Tuesday's tragedy.
(RPI leader and Union minister Ramdas Athawale visits the site of the building collapse)
Another BMC engineer pointed out that most of the buildings in A, B, C wards the owner have allegedly raised one to two floors illegally. ''The new regulations for minimum road width and minimum open space has stalled almost 40 to 50% of redevelopment projects in these wards and other parts of Mumbai. In case of Kesarbai building, it was not built up prior to 1969 to be covered under the cessed category but it had come up in 1995,'' he said. The civic body engineer, however, added that the high-level inquiry has already been ordered by the Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis for further action.
POINT OF NEGLECT
- The civic body stated that it had served a notice in August 2017 to the landowner of Kesarbai Building
- It mentioned that in the event of any eventuality the blame will rest on those who didn’t act on the BMC’s notice
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 "Dongri building collapse")
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