Home over life: Why residents in dilapidated buildings refuse to vacate

When the 117-year-old Hussaini building in Bhendi Bazaar came crashing down on Thursday, thousands of residents within 500 meters were restless, fearing for their own building. But then they have left everything in the hands of fate, MHADA and the government. Despite the unsafe condition of their buildings, residents worry that if they move out, they will never be able to come back. At the transit camps of Mumbai, there are families who have been staying for as long as three to four decades. Some have given up hope of returning to their original building, and some now claim they want the government to rehabilitate them in the transit accommodation itself.

There are more than 16,000 cessed buildings that belong to MHADA, and most of them are in south Mumbai. Of these, more than 8,000 need urgent repairs, while 3,000 are in a miserable condition. These buildings have lakhs of residents staying in them. About 16,000 such dangerous buildings all over the city belong to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC).

“Imagine you are stuck under debris, cannot move, cannot breathe because of the bricks and mortar above your head, which was once part of the house you stayed in. I live with this fear every day. I recently underwent a knee surgery so I can’t even move,” said Neela Pisat resident of the 117-year-old Chawate building located on Carpenter Street in the CP Tank area. MHADA has served numerous notices to this building terming it to be unsafe to reside.  

The collapsed Hussaini building was at a distance of barely 200 metres from Chawate, which had 27 residents of which now five continue to live, and are unwilling to leave till the government assures them of better accommodation facilities close to their existing building.  

Entry to the building is narrow, the staircase has crumbled, the left-side wall of the building has moved away from the main building structure. The rear of the building looks tilted. In all probability, the building is unsafe to reside.  

Despite being aware of the dangers, residents do not want to vacate. Ramchandra Joshi, who has been residing here for more than 30 years now said that their landlord is incommunicado. In spite of being fully aware of the dilapidated condition, Joshi cannot leave. “I don’t mind leaving the building, but all my work is here. If I go to the Sion transit camp, I will never return here as no one who has gone there comes back. If MHADA demolishes the building there’s no issue, but we should be given accommodation somewhere close to Parel, so that we can continue with our work.”

Residents are reluctant to move to transit camps because they fear they will never return to their original building. “My father vacated his building in Girgaum and shifted to a transit accommodation in Dharavi. It’s been 10 years. He died five months ago and there has been no movement in the building construction at the original site. How can I trust transit accommodation now,” said Neela.

Narendra Pisat, another resident of Chawate building said, “We are living in a pitiable condition but no politician is bothered. What is the use of giving us money after the building collapses? Why can’t we be given attention when we are alive?”  

Talking to DNA about residents who refuse to vacate dilapidated buildings, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said, “The government has passed an Act that if a developer doesn’t do it (redevelopment of old buildings) on time then their (housing) cooperatives can do it.”

The refugee colony in Sion-Koliwada for Punjabis and Sindhis, who came from Pakistan after the partition, is also unsafe to reside. Two decades ago, the BMC declared the refugee camps as dangerous to live in but residents continue to stay. They are waiting for a commitment from the BMC for transit accomodation. Their only hope is that a developer will appear in the future and the building will be redeveloped.

According to Sukhdev Singh Mehta, a senior citizen, who has been residing in the refugee colony there is a lot of confusion on how and who will redevelop the area, and where will they be alloted the transit accommodation, once redevelopment begins. “There is a lot of misunderstanding regarding the redevelopment of these buildings even the residents are not coming together,” said Mehta.

According to Mehta, there are a total of 1,200 tenants, but around 200 tenants have not been able to secure ownership due to lack of clarity, even though the state government is ready to give it to them.

Another resident Jai Bishan Talwar, 69, a resident of Punjabi Refugee Colony in Sion-Koliwada said that they wanted to vacate their home but they do not have an option as there is no clarity on redevelopment yet. He runs his business in the same neighbourhood, and his grandchildren go to a school nearby. “Where will I go with my family leaving this place?”

NUMBERS SPEAK

• 267 people died in the last two decades in building collapses (excluding the Hussaini building)
   
• 19 buildings collapsed in last two decades in Mumbai
   
• 632 buildings in Mumbai have been declared as dilapidated by the BMC
   
• April 2013  74 people died in Mumbra’s Lucky compound building collapse
   
• September 2013 61 people died in Babu Genu Market building collapse in Mazgaon
   
• July-August 2017  3 buildings collapsed
   
• In the last two months, 57 people died in building collapse

LIVING IN DANGER

This year, before the onset of rains, MHADA declared nine buildings as dangerous. There are more than 16,000 cessed buildings, of which 8,000 need urgent repair and around 3,000 are in a dire state.

In Bhendi Bazaar, there are 256 unsafe buildings in the Saifee Burhani Upliftment Trust’s redevelopment project alone that have affected more than 4,221 families including nearly 1,200 commercial outlets.

The Pratiksha Nagar transit camp is the biggest with around 67 buildings and more than 5,000 families.

Before the onset of monsoon, the BMC had issued a list of dilapidated buildings, and also issued a notice to vacate. The buildings fall under the C1 category of civic body and there are 632 such buildings.