dna edit: The price of apathy

Another monsoon, another spate of building collapses. In a fortnight, three buildings have crashed, claiming 27 lives — grim reminders of how the safety of residents living in unsafe structures is compromised. The latest to collapse is a Dahisar building in which seven people died. In the last two incidents — including the one in Mumbra, Thane, killing 10 people and injuring 14 others — both the buildings had, in fact, been declared dangerous by the respective municipal corporations.

But some families continued to live in them for the simple reason that renting or buying property in Mumbai and Thane is an expensive proposition. Most people would rather risk their lives and stay in dilapidated structures because they can’t afford alternative accommodation. This underscores the need for to tighten up both sides of the equation — regulation and enforcement of safety norms, and protecting the interests of the affected people.

As of now, the Thane Municipal Corporation and Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC)’s roles are all but limited to conducting structural audits, and issuing ‘danger’ notices with no guarantee of follow-up action. In the Mahim crash that happened 14 days ago, some of the inhabitants had illegally made structural changes within the building, and in the process weakened it. They knew they could get away with such deviations by paying bribes to BMC officials if it was ever found out.

As for the Mumbra collapse — it happened despite the building being a legal structure — there are hundreds of buildings in that area that pose graver risks to the inhabitants because they are illegal and are made of poor construction materials. On April 4, a building crashed in the same area, killing more than 70 people. Though the civic authorities undertook a demolition drive in the area, the effort soon ran out of steam because of political resistance. This is primarily because most builders enjoy political patronage. Civic officials too are part of this nexus as they get huge bribes to look the other way.

Unless the political class moves from being part of the problem to being part of the solution, regulation and enforcement will remain a pipe dream. Builders will continue to flout structural norms to maximise their profits while the people residing in these buildings will continue to suffer.

As for the residents of affected structures, a committee involving the state government and prominent citizens should be formed to look after their interests.

It could look to Delhi Lt Governor Tejendra Khanna who has suggested avenues for providing alternate accommodation for inhabitants of such buildings, thus enabling retrofitting or rebuilding. This will enable the immediate razing of buildings that have been deemed dangerous. We cannot continue to wait for a disaster to happen and then take action.