Fifty two per cent buildings in the city are illegal as they do not have occupancy certificates (OCs).
A Right to Information (RTI) query by one Anil Galgali has brought to light that, in the last nine years, only 48 per cent buildings have obtained OCs from the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC).
If a building doesn’t have an OC, it means the building is not fit for habitation and residents are staying on their own risk.
The civic body received 14,370 OC requests between 2003-04 and 2012-13, but 9,841 were given Intimation of Disapproval (IOD). Also, 13,313 were issued Commencement Certificate (CC) and 6,888 were granted OCs.
While the civic body received approximately 1,597 requests last year, only 766 received OCs. “It means only 48% buildings have OCs. It’s shocking and a cause of concern,” said Galgali.
The BMC does not have an update on how many buildings have OC and how many doesn’t have.
In the last budget, chief minister Prithviraj Chavan said there are 5,000 buildings across the state without OCs.
“The reality is different. The BMC haven’t compiled the data. They have data only for the past nine years,” said Galgali.
Senior civic officials blamed the developers. “Many builders start giving possession of flats without OCs in place,” one official said.
All a piece of paper
An OC is a document issued by the BMC to the builder to show that the construction complies with all the norms.
Since the fine is very less, builders get away easily. In 2011, even Sachin Tendulkar escaped by paying a small fine.
If there is no OC, residents will have to pay twice the water charges and higher property taxes.
Because of the developers fault flat owners end up paying additional taxes and fine.
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